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| 31.1 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Feb 12 1997 16:27 | 251 |
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June 28, 1992 (pm)
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak
knees! Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame
may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Make every effort to live in peace with all men,
and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the
Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and
that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and
defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is
godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his
inheritance rights as the oldest son. Hebrews 12: 12 -
16
HIGH ROAD, LOW ROAD
I recall two or three "masterpiece sermons" that Dr. Edward Mann
used representing E.N.C. when I was (what we called) a "quartet boy."
One began with a bit of verse about "high road" and "low road" and
being dissatisfied with "misty flats in between..."
"Behold I show you a way, and ways, and a Way.
And the high soul goes the high road, and the low soul
goes the low-- and in between, on the misty flats, the
rest grope to and fro..but to each is opened a high
road and a low, and each soul must determine the way
his soul must go." -don't hold me to this quote...!
The whole Book of Hebrews is about the high soul finding the high
way of holiness! It is about the BETTER way! All Christians who
start out with Jesus are on the High Road. There are NOT two ways for
Christians. Either we are following after Jesus, following after
holiness-- or we are sidetracked somewhere, lost or in the process of
getting lost; groping our way into the "misty flats" of compromise.
There are several "warnings" in the Book of Hebrews. They are
NOT usually popular; we don't think we need warnings. Our hearts are
pure! But how do Christians who start out so ideally and with good
intentions get off the high way of holiness?
I. WE CAN LOSE THE HIGH WAY THROUGH NEGLECT OR IGNORANCE (2:1-4)
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to
what we have heard. so that we do not drift away. For
if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every
violation and disobedience received its just
punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a
great salvation? This salvation, which was first
announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who
heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders
and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit
distributed according to his will. -Hebrews 2:1-4
A. Key words here are "careful attention" "drift away" and
"ignore;" we may be in danger simply because we are so familiar with
the way of salvation that we take it for granted!
TO LISTEN EARNESTLY TO GOD? Others may hear God speaking
because they are listening-- we may miss conversation with God Himself
because we are blinded by so much light-- or perhaps thinking that
knowing facts is the same as knowing a Person.
The chilling warning here is that we are responsible not only
for what we hear-- but for the light or opportunity we may have--
responsible for what we COULD hear easily if we would only listen!
TO "DRIFT AWAY" ? So very gently, so slowly-- watching
inconsistencies in people-- emphasizing the negatives-- believing
doubts, doubting instead of seeking-- like a boat slipping away from a
mooring-- unattached, soon a tragic loss.
TO IGNORE ALMIGHTY GOD ? The supreme insult-- to go past God as
if He were not there! Our mighty nation is in great danger of doing
exactly this! We DO have a state religion-- the religion of
secularism! We shall pay for this by being by-passed in the revival
which is coming!
B. The warning is: THOSE WHO IGNORE GOD WILL NOT ESCAPE HIS
JUDGMENT!
II. WE CAN LOSE THE WAY OF HOLINESS BY UNBELIEF (3:12)
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a
sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the
living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as
it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened
by sin's deceitfulness. ("an evil heart of
unbelief"KJV) Hebrews 3:12-13
A. The illustration here is the Children of Israel, having been
delivered from slavery in Egypt, but stopping short of the Promised
Land.
They were characterized, possessed, by a spirit of ingratitude,
and continually looked back on the best of slavery from the worst of
the pilgrim's life.
They also had a spirit of rebellion, against the Laws of God and
the discipline of Sinai and Moses.
Worst of all, perhaps, they had a spirit of blindness to God's
PURPOSE. God intended for them a home, a country of plenty. They
could not think beyond this day! They quickly forgot how God had
brought them this far miraculously!
B. The warning here was that their hearts would be hardened and they
would no longer be able to understand the love of God. What is the
"unpardonable sin?"
III. A THIRD WARNING IN HEBREWS IS A WARNING AGAINST IRRESPONSIBILITY
- Two verses:
(5:12) Though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary
truths of God's Word all over again. You need milk, not
solid food!
and
(6:1-6) Therefore, let us leave the elementary
teachings about Christ and go on to maturity. Let us
not lay again the foundation of repentance from acts
that lead to death, and of faith in God, instructions
about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the
resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God
permitting, we will do so.
It is impossible for those who have been enlight
ened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have
shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness
of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if
they fall away, to be brought back to repentance,
because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of
God all over again and subjecting him to public
disgrace.
A. The warning is not that it is wrong or evil to be immature; any
more than it is a sin to be a baby! Babies are FUN! If you don't
believe me take Jake to the South Shore Plaza for half an hour! The
warning is that it is tragic to REMAIN immature! To refuse to try to
grow and develop and accept responsibility as well as privilege! This
is a deadly danger:
This spirit is characterized by wanting to be satisfied-- but
NOT being willing to accept responsibility!
This spirit is characterized by wanting all the fruits of hard
labor-- but not accepting the day in, day out discipline that produces
fruit. [Like our first garden in Cherry Valley-- yielded NOTHING!]
B. "Peter Pan" Christians are not only burden to others-- they are
in grave and mortal danger themselves! [What IS the unpardonable sin?]
IV. FINALLY; IT IS POSSIBLE TO LOSE THE WAY OVER DIVIDED LOYALTIES!
A. (Text) There is no higher call, ever, than "Follow Me!" from
Jesus Himself. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is not a call to
division-- it is an enabling to know Jesus better, to understand what
Jesus said better, to be more and more like Jesus. This is what Jesus
taught about the coming of the Spirit:
"He (the Holy Spirit) will not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear he will speak. He will
glorify Me: for he will take of mine and show it you.
John 16:13-15 Wesley's translation.
To every child of God there comes a call to total, complete
dedication. We in the holiness "movement" have made a specialty of
it; we call it our "cardinal doctrine." But hearing it, or being
familiar with it does not make it happen. Each of us must be willing
to "lay aside every weight" and "the sin that doth so easily beset us"
and follow after God's will for our lives!
It is possible to have a clear witness; that we have done just
that! Like Jacob at the Brook Jabbok, we need to wrestle with the
angel-- until God's blessing is more important to us than even our
lives!
"What is your name!??" the angel said, when it
seemed that Jacob was exhausted.
"I am Jacob- the usurper- the mixed of motives!" was
the honest answer. "But I will not let you go until you
bless me!"
Your name is now ISRAEL!" said the angel. And
Jacob's name, and the very heart of his character were
changed!
Conclusion:
This has been a "negative message." I MAKE NO APOLOGY FOR THAT!
WARNING! is a big word in Hebrews! But let me end this message, not
with words about how to "get off" the Highway of Holiness, but how to
be sure to stay ON!
After all, the best way to avoid trouble is to stay as far away
from it as you can. When we must go into the danger zones or the
battle-ground God has promised us grace. But Jesus also taught us to
pray: Lead us NOT into temptation, but deliver us from evil!
And right here in this 12th chapter-- this "warning"-- is a sure
formula for not failing!
ONE (12:2): Fix your eyes on Jesus! A great share of our trouble
comes when we listen to our fears, or listen to bad people, or listen
too much to good people-- before or more than we listen to Jesus
Himself!
The very dearest, sweetest, most godly person will sometimes be
wrong! They will sometimes fail!
Jesus did not fail!
Jesus endured contradiction of sinners against himself-- even to
the point of death; can we endure our hardships, even if it kills us?
Will we?
KEEP LOOKING TO JESUS!
TWO (last): Make every effort to live in peace with all men (And
women) and to be holy; for without holiness no one will see the Lord!
It takes EFFORT to be at peace with people! If only we could live out
our lives in solitary vacuum with no one but a perfect, holy God! WE
are so perfect!
What is the effort involved? Not a simple thing-- but Paul put
it this way (in his testimony before Felix--remember?)
Acts 24:16 So I strive always to keep my
conscience clear before God and (people.)
Whatever it takes-- keep your eyes on Jesus! Keep your
conscience clear! Stay open-- keep 'fessed up! For if we walk with
Jesus daily, we shall never leave the High Road!
Prayer - EH #75 Jesus, My Strength My Hope
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.2 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Feb 12 1997 16:28 | 134 |
|
Luke 16: 19 - 31
CONTRASTS
Jesus was talking to people who were scoffers. They were wealthy,
and self-righteous; the Bible says they were lovers of money. Finally
he told them this story. It may or may not be a parable; but it is
obviously told for a purpose:
I. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STORY
1. It is not obviously a parable; but if it were, what is its
purpose? Why did Jesus use it in His teaching?
2. It seems to say that God 'evens things out.' The poor are more
pure than the rich. But is that what it really says?
3. It says, with unmistakable simplicity, that there is a life
after death; and that there will be rewards and punishments.
4. It says, too, that it is "safe" to live by God's special
revelation: by Moses and the prophets-- by the Bible.
5. But it says, finally, THAT THIS LIFE IS NOT ALL THERE IS TO
LIVING; AND THAT WE DO WELL TO PREPARE FOR ETERNITY.
II. IT IS A STORY OF OBVIOUS CONTRASTS
Jesus was certainly not saying it was wrong to be rich; for the
subjects of the two immediately preceding parables were both rich and
good. But it seemed He wanted to show as much contrast as he could
between the way the worldly, materialistic-minded people set their
values, and the way that God sets His values. So this was a story of
contrasts.
1. There were contrasts in material surroundings.
rich vs. beggar
sumptuous fare vs. longing after crumbs
purple and fine linen vs. a covering of sores ...
2. There were evidently hidden contrasts in life purpose.
3. There were contrasts that became apparent in death: Oh,I'm
sure that the funerals carried on the contrast.
the rich man had the mayor/flowers/car vs. just a few family to grieve
a big 'obit' and pix vs. nothing in the Ledger . . .
But Jesus gives us a little insight when He says: "The angels
carried Lazarus into Abraham's bosom!"
III. BUT THE FINAL CONTRASTS LIE IN ETERNAL, UNCHANGING VERITIES
[Conclusion:] The contrasts that were obvious were not necessarily the
important ones: what had these men lived for? For whom had they lived?
A. THIS STORY IS A CLEAR WARNING:
What is the real "key" to this passage? Look at vv 14,15:"Now
the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these
things, and they were scoffing at Him.
"And He said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves in
the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly
esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.'"
1. It is a warning to self-sufficient men and women. This is the
"text" of the story we have read!
Hear it again:'You are those who justify yourselves in the sight
of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly
esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.'
2. It is a reminder of the eternal perspective we all need. We
must make sure our possessions are working for us, and not
the other way around. We need to see if what we think is
important is detestable in God's eyes.
3. It is a healthy reminder that we can prepare NOW to die.
Death is part of life, and it is not morbid to prepare well
for it.
B. THIS STORY IS ALSO A SOURCE OF ASSURANCE
No matter how insignificant or unloved, God does not forget His
own people; the angels know their address-- they do not die
unnoticed. (Is it morbid to think on death?)
It makes sense! We must prepare!
But how do we prepare?
1. WE SHALL DIE AS WE LIVE;
[Proverbs 14:32] "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness;
but the righteous hath hope in his death." It is a fact we
must accept; we are never really quite 'prepared' for death;
it ALWAYS comes at an inconvenient time.
2. So:WE CAN'T "GET" READY..WE HAVE TO "BE" READY!
Some people are waiting for an unusual sign or signal before
they get right with God! Dives said: 'If someone were to rise
from the dead then certainly my brothers would give heed!'
But Abraham, in Jesus' story, said, 'No- If they don't
heed their everyday opportunities, they wouldn't be saved if
someone came back from the dead!'
We must LIVE in a right relationship with God.
3. But if we are saved, and if we are walking in the light, how
will we know what to do when we come to cross over?
That's the beautiful part; we don't have special preparation!
When we belong to God, it is THEN DYING GRACE IS A 'GIVEN!'
And then: We don't have to "get" ready!
#244 (Wesley) I Do Believe!
#246 Is Thy Heart Right with God?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.3 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Feb 12 1997 16:29 | 245 |
|
4/1/90-am
Romans 8:6 - 9 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind
set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh
is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of
God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
THE MIND SET OF BELONGING
We are reading Romans 8, seeking to find out what something of
what it means to know the sanctifying grace of God. [It is all too
easy to begin anywhere and end up exactly where we want to come out.]
INTRODUCTION
There are some strong statements in this opening part of Romans
8 that, taken out of context, contradict common sense and experience.
One such statement is: "They that are in the flesh cannot please God."
What this is sometimes interpreted to say is: As long as we are
flesh and blood, here in this life, we can not hope to please God.
Even Christians are under sin's dominion!
But the very next statement is also easy to misunderstand: "You
are not in the flesh if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you."--
which is misinterpreted to say that people who are inhabited by God's
Spirit are somehow "other-worldly" and so they do not fully enter into
life here on earth.
What we can understand immediately is that there is conflict and
struggle, tension and even warfare that we experience even as we seek
to know God's sanctifying grace.
I. THE BATTLEGROUND OF THE HUMAN PERSONALITY
Why there should even be a battle of good and evil is a mystery.
Occasionally even little children will ask profound questions like:
"Why doesn't God just squash the devil?"
Why this battle should continue even after a person has chosen
to go with God is beyond our understanding. But the battle
continues. And the center of the battle, at least so far as we mortals
can understand, seems to be our very minds and souls, the human
personality.
Romans 7:21 declares there is a principle that good is always
opposed: "I find then a principle that when I would do good, evil is
present with me." God's Word reveals the true extent of the
struggle. Our minds become a microcosm of the mystery of good and
evil.
This struggle sharpens with the revelation of a God who IS, and
who is GOOD, and who SPEAKS to us, who challenges us to believe in
Him, to KNOW Him, and to come to LOVE Him and TRUST Him.
You are personally involved in this titanic battle.
II. THE BATTLE OF GOOD AND EVIL INTRUDES INTO EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE
AND LIVING
[ Philosophers and peasants, great men and little children- all of us
have tried to understand the dimensions of the warfare of good and
evil. ]
A. Our society has largely taken the approach to the problem of
denying that it exists. With no absolute good and no absolute evil,
each individual in our society is free to do as he/she pleases, just
so long as no absolute standards are proclaimed.
[And consequently we have the tragic enigma of parents berating
their children for doing drugs, when they themselves are addicted to
alcohol; of public officials whose personal and private lives are full
of broken promises and rotten selfishness making pronouncements on
what is and what is not "moral" for society; we have liberal church
leaders speaking for God who have lost all personal contact with God;
we have fundamentalists who know all the answers even before the
questions are asked. And the heart of the whole matter is this thing
Paul calls "mind set!" ]
All these failures are merely human solutions to human problems.
All these are evidence of lack of trust in a God Whose Word reaches to
where we live!]
B. [We cannot be "good without God!] We have forgotten that the
One who made us knows us better than we know ourselves. We have
forgotten the instructions that come with the Manufacturer's
Guarantee. And whatever we may think or say about ourselves, human
beings still respond at the deepest level to what is right and what is
wrong. Our souls bear witness to a battle that we do not ever fully
understand. We are a bundle of contrasts.
C. [We are called on to choose.] This is the message of the
Evangelist. God has spoken; His way is GOOD. All other ways lead to
death. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) "I call heaven and earth to witness
against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the
blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live
... "
D. This chapter is a litany of the personal fallout of our
choosing: (v 1) contrasts of condemnation/freedom; (v 26) of
weakness/attainment; (vv 2,6, 13, +) of death/life; (v 18) of
suffering/glory; (vv 35-39) of separation/love.
All of these contrasts come to a focus in what Paul calls "mind
set." ( KJV = "carnal mind" and "Spiritually minded".) There are
only two ways to think about life, so far as Paul is concerned-- in
the flesh, or in the Spirit.
E.[Several statements are made about THE MIND SET ON THE FLESH.]
(1) It has as ITS LIFE GOALS (verse 5) the things of the flesh;
temporal things, things that will pass away. It believes
that THINGS are the cause of joy.
(2) It has as ITS BASIC TEMPER (verse 7) a hostility toward
God. It sees God as the enemy, the One who takes away joy.
(3) It has as ITS LIFE STYLE (verse 7) a law-breaking way of
living; in fact it couldn't keep the law if it wanted to.
(4) IT CANNOT PLEASE GOD (verse 8) even though God loves the
sinner, and seeks his salvation, the way the sinner LIVES is
not pleasing to God.
(5) THE MIND SET ON THE FLESH IS DEATH (verse 6.) Not just
"will be" death, nor "leads to" death-- which are both
true-- but is NOW spiritually DEATH!
F. In contrast, here is what is said about THE MIND THAT IS SET
ON THE SPIRIT:
(1) It is LIFE and it is PEACE (verse 6.)
(2) It has as ITS LIFE-GOALS the things of the Spirit (verse 5.)
"But you can't eat "love and Joy and Peace..." Perhaps not,
but don't forget Matthew 6:33!
(3) The mind set on the Spirit is WHERE GOD LIVES. The
Christian is possessed BY GOD HIMSELF! God comes to live in
us! (verse 9.)
(4) PLUS ... all the other benefits of this chapter!!
[So, how may we come down on the side of God, and of good-- not
just on Sunday when we're all dressed up-- but out there on the job
where the rubber meets the road?]
III. THE BATTLE BOILS DOWN TO: WHO SHALL BE GOD?!
[Is it really possible to be 'Spiritually minded'? Those who are in
Christ Jesus HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE LIVING GOD. And so they have a
particular way of looking at God. And because they do, they also have
a particular way of looking at all of life.]
A. [God can/must be encountered as a Person.] If you are a
Christian this morning it is not (just) because of WHAT you have
believed, but because of WHOM YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED! If you have met
the living God who is bigger than all your universe, you have been
introduced to the way of the 'spiritually minded.' If you have a
lesser god who perhaps serves to make you healthier and wealthier and
wiser, but does not fill all the Universe, then you are still "in the
flesh!"
THERE IS NO 'MIDDLE GROUND:' TO BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED IS TO SEEK
TO LIVE IN GOD'S REALITY. TO BE FLESHLY MINDED IS TO TRY TO SERVE A
GOD WE CAN BRING INTO OUR REALITY.
B. The challenge is to let God truly BE GOD! THIS IS NOT A NEW
THING, THIS "STRUGGLE OF REALITIES." The First Commandment is still
the hardest one to truly keep! NO OTHER GODS!
Every generation of God's people has had its form of "secular
humanism" under one form or another. It seems so simple to follow
Jesus Christ: But there are always logical, attractive, compromising
alternatives to following God with all our hearts. There are many
"lesser gods." There always have been.
Jesus said we are to be "In the world but not of the world." One
Jewish historian saw it as a battle between the children of Zeus and
the Children of YHWH: between the people who saw their gods as
super-humans, needing to be placated, but serving to define the ideal
Man and the ideal Woman, and the people who saw human beings as made
in the image of the Invisible and Holy One who said "I AM THAT I AM"
and "BE YE HOLY FOR I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM HOLY!"
IN THE WORLD! Christians can buy and sell for profit, can run
computers, can compete in the marketplace and the arenas of life.
"All truth is God's truth--" and certainly not all pagans are
deliberately God's enemies, and not all the world outside these doors
is evil. BUT NOT OF THE WORLD! Christians are different! They have
a different mind-set. They refuse to bow down and worship any
Creature. Only the Creator is worthy of that loyalty.
To be Christian, then, to have one's mind set on God, MEANS THAT
WE HAVE A PERSONAL, LIVING, VITAL CONNECTION WITH GOD ALMIGHTY!
IV. THE BATTLE IS WON AS WE CONTINUE TO BE PRESENT TO GOD
A. To "be saved" is to encounter God. It is to be "present" when
He calls [... and not just believing a creed or joining a church.]
B. But to be 'being sanctified' is to continue to be "present" to
God in the out-living of our lives. [I need to be careful here--
careful and kind. I am dealing with some of the finest Christian
people I know. People who are highly motivated and actively engaged in
the work of God's kingdom.]
WHAT we do may or may not be exactly what we need to be doing.
But HOW we go about doing what we do-- the SPIRIT we demonstrate-, and
especially WHY we go about doing what we do will reflect whether or
not we really know God! That is what "mind-set on God" is all about!
C. And there simply is no short-cut to "being present" to God.
There is no "fool-proof" formula, no ritual that will not dry up and
become an end in itself, no "prayer wheels" we can leave on while we
go about doing as WE please. We simply have to spend some time with
God. If we will take time to "be present" to God, He will dominate
our lives and make us like Himself.
CONCLUSION:
When we are "in Christ" the battle is won, but it is not
over. There is still suffering to face. There are weaknesses to be
endured. There are separations that will come. But be assured: God
IS! God LOVES YOU!
If our minds are stayed on the God who transcends, we will find
that He is the God who never, ever leaves us nor forsakes us.
EH #82 Like a River Glorious
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.4 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Feb 12 1997 16:30 | 165 |
|
February 18, 1990
THE URGENCY OF MISSION
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14 "For the love
of Christ COMPELS us..."
(Read 2 Corinthians 5:14 - 17)
Introduction:
[We are at the fourth of the distinctive statements about what
Nazarenes believe made by Hardy C. Powers at Pilot Point, Texas, in
1958: i.e., authority of scripture; adequacy of the atonement; reality
of spiritual experience; and now, the urgency of mission.]
Our faith is God-given, and true, and satisfying. Authority!
Adequacy! Spiritual reality of experience! But our faith is also for
doing!
Psalm 126 talks about "Going forth weeping, sowing seed ... and
doubtless coming again with rejoicing and with results!" The
paragraphs immediately following the text (2 Corinthians 6:1-10) tell
of the awful, serious, glorious urgency which the author himself felt
about working together with the Master. [This passage (2 Corinthians
5:15-17) means more to me now than when we started looking at it a few
weeks ago.]
I. LOVE COMPELS
'What I Did for Love' [5:14 "...the love of Christ controls us
..."]
A. Throughout the annals of memory we human beings have
astounded one another at the amazing 'sacrifices' carried out in the
strength of love.
We do things because we love that we would not do for any other
reason. We do things that simply do not "make sense" and that
certainly do not "profit" in any way except personal satisfaction.
STORIES:
James Robert McKane
On a sunny morning in March, 1945, just five months before the end of
the war, an American patrol walked into murderous machine gun fire on
the island of Luzon near Baguio... [A man runs into murderous machine
gun fire to rescue a fellow patrol member who is lying bleeding. He is
killed. Here love of country & love of fellow soldier & love of
family all mixed in together = "hero"]
Elizabeth Elliot
[A woman joins her husband in a very dangerous mission. When he is
killed and the entire world is distressed, she goes back to the same
tribe and actually wins them to the love of Jesus Christ. Here love
of Jesus Christ + love of another human being + love that cannot be
explained = "standard of excellence in Christian love!"]
John Stark
[A man tenderly cares for his wife year after year; love of Jesus +
love of fellow Christians + (tragedy, life's partner incapacitated) +
faithfulness year after year = "A personal revelation of what it means
to be called 'Christian'."]
II. LOVE MOTIVATES
["... The love of Christ controls us ..."]
A. Real love somehow enables human beings to get outside the
entrapment of their own self-worship. [Some things that pass for
'love' are undisguised selfishness!]
To say "Love motivates" may be saying the same thing as "Love
compels" in other words. But there is a certain kind of love the
Bible tells us "compels" us. It is AGAPE love.
B. Agape is that kind of love which is centered outside of ego;
it is a love which transcends and around which all other things in
life center. It does not have to be Christian [1 John 2:15 reads "Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." In each case
the word "love" is the Greek word "agape." Therefore it must be
possible to "agape" the world- - to center our lives on things other
than the Father!] It is people who have centered their very lives
outside their own little world that have caught the 'urgency of
mission.'
III. LOVE TRUSTS
["...we have received the ministry of reconciliation ..."]
A. The kind of "faith" that changes the lives of people in
need-- and the kind of "love" that really is "AGAPE" has to be more
than a mental concept.
We may often think of "the faith of our fathers" as a body of
doctrine or creed which we are taught, and learn and believe with our
minds. It is [FIDE.] But there are TWO Greek words for our common idea
of faith: in addition to this (important) doctrinal truth (FIDE),
there is the faith that is what we believe with our whole beings!
(FIDUCIA). "FIDUCIA" is the kind of faith that trusts another person
because of a relationship of respect and love. It is hard to put into
words just what the difference might be.
B. I wonder, especially in a church on a college campus, if we
come to church and expect our "faith" to be mainly HERE (in our
heads.) If we learn something new, or if some truth is put to us in a
fresh way, then we think our faith is strengthened.
BUT HOW SELF-CENTERED WE ARE! Even in our worship we are the
center! We need control!
C. We think that faith is a matter of being convinced that a
thing is true or not. Certainly that is a part of it. But a critical
attitude of mind can be a copout for not wanting to spend enough time
with God to let Him really LOVE us! It is in the relationships of
LOVE that FIDUCIA is revealed. It is in our personal relations with
God that our 'FIDE' ALSO BECOMES 'FIDUCIA'.
D. Throughout the Bible the emphasis is on fiducia, and hardly
ever on fide. ["Fide" is assumed!] It is assumed that there is a God;
that this God has a right to make demands on us; that God is good; and
that our surrendered lives can and will make a difference eternally.
What a wonderful thing it is when "fide" becomes "fiducia" as well!
Conclusion:
A. All my life I've heard all sorts of reasons why I should be
doing this or that for God! If you are like I am, we've had mixed
feelings, mixed reasons for doing what we've done. I wonder if we can
ever really say: The love of Christ compels us?
B. When it does, what we do will matter! You can make a
difference! Together we can make a BIG difference! This church can
be a place where healing takes place. Our fellowship can be a saving
fellowship. But it will be love that drives us, if such work is done!
C. [Story: Lawrence Richards' wrote of two college classes
given identical material with the exception that in one case it
applied directly to their life and a commitment of themselves; in the
other case it was simply material to be learned to pass the course.]
D. The question that brought Peter back into vital relationship
with Jesus was not "Peter, am I really the Messiah?" That was
absolutely vital- but it had been settled! The question that restored
Peter, and sent him on his way to marvelous service was, "Peter, son
of Jonah, do you LOVE Me?"
Prayer:
219 My Savior's Love
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.5 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Feb 12 1997 16:31 | 188 |
|
NOTE: Tomorrow begins the Lenten season. February 12, 1997-March 30, 1997.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 17, 1991
Psalm 90:13 So teach us to number our days that we may apply our
hearts to wisdom.
LESSONS FROM A MAN OF GOD
Lenten Series 1991
What are your greatest aspirations and dreams? I hope that they
are built around the desire to be a man or woman of God. But if they
are, you are not typical! You will not find "godliness" on the "Ten
Top" lists for ambitions anywhere that I know. A "godly one,"
according to Psalm 50:4, is one who has made covenant by sacrifice
with God. If you have trusted in the blood of the everlasting
covenant, then you are one of God's people-- and potentially a godly
man or woman!
The world says "Give me goals that I can measure and display!
Give me goals that say to the world, 'Here is a success!'" But we will
do well to learn to aspire to higher goals than those we can set for
ourselves! God's plans for you are better than your own! And God wants
you to be a woman of God, a man of God!
Moses was called "a man of God." He wrote the words of our
morning's Psalm. It is distilled wisdom. In it Moses tells us:
I. THE PSALM OF MOSES
A. "Lord, YOU have been our dwellingplace in all generations." God
is HOME to the godly man or woman. Moses would teach us to think of
God Himself as our HOME.
Of course this doesn't sound "practical." God may help us with
our ethics or our personal peace, or our problems. But centering our
whole life in God? Really?
Moses learned through years of living that the Presence of God
Himself is the secret to wisdom. God does provide, work miracles,
fight our battles; but the man or woman that simply lives with God,
and does not just seek to use Him is the man or woman of God.
But living with God is not automatic. Moses says:
B. "Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to
wisdom." The godly man or woman is a teachable person, and seeks to
have God Himself for the Teacher. We look at this verse and think of
time management, and disciplines of business administration; and these
are excellent. Moses specifically asks GOD Himself to teach him
whatever skills he needs.
C. Finally in this Psalm Moses prays "Establish our works, O Lord!
Don't let us live our lives in vain!" There is that cry for
immortality and for meaning. And Moses was able to get some important
things done in his lifetime!
II. THE LIFE OF MOSES
Moses went through three distinct stages or periods in his life:
A. First Moses had an ACTIVIST STAGE. For the first forty years or
so of his life, Moses was a prince in the richest country of the
world. In this stage Moses no doubt saw himself as a key player in
any social revolution that needed to take place. His faith was
chiefly in himself. And when he struck out, he struck out! He killed
an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave-- and ended up being hunted
like a common murderer.
B. Then Moses went through an ISOLATIONIST PERIOD. He dropped out,
and he probably intended to stay unspotted from the world. But on the
back side of an Arabian desert Moses encountered a God who wouldn't
leave him alone; a God who called him by his name: "Moses!"
C. So finally Moses came to a CONFESSIONAL FAITH IN THIS GOD: and
the "man of God" era in Moses' life began in earnest. With nothing
but the rod in his hand and his brother, Aaron for company, Moses went
back to Egypt at God's command, and the rest is history:
1. He led perhaps 1,000,000 Hebrew men, women and children out
of the hands of the Pharaoh of Egypt.
2. He met with God on the mountain we call Sinai, and delivered
to the world the Ten Commandments.
3. He formed the nation of Israel from this band of slaves, and
delivered them to the borders of the Promised Land. Quite a life's
accomplishment!
4. Then Moses died! But before he died, Moses called all the
people together. Most of them had not been around when the slaves had
left Egypt. Moses gave them the Law a second time. And then Moses sang
them a song. God gave this 120-year-old man a song of praise. There
it is in the 31st chapter of Deuteronomy. We usually skip through it
hurriedly on our way to the Book of Joshua, if we read the Old
Testament at all.
But that isn't quite the end of the story of Moses, the man of
God:
III. THE SONG OF MOSES
The song of Moses, curiously, is also a part of the final book
of the Bible, the book we call "Apocalypse" or The Revelation. Over
in one corner of the vast mural of epic struggle which is the
Apocalypse is a mysterious inscription of blessing. (14:13) John
writes:
And I heard a voice out of heaven saying, Write, From
henceforth happy are the dead who die in the Lord: Yea,
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors.
Their works follow them.
And nearby, in this same corner of the gallery is a living portrayal
of victorious saints -(perhaps even you and me?)- who have fought the
good fight. They are standing by a sea of glass that looks as if is
mixed with fire, and they have musical instruments in their hands,
harps that God Himself has given them. They are singing a song. What
do you suppose the song they are singing is called? It is called The
Song of Moses, and of the Lamb! Do you want to hear it? Frankly, I
don't know the tune! But I do have the words! It comes right out of
the song Moses sang in Deuteronomy 31!
Great and marvelous are your deeds
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways
King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
And bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
And worship before you,
For your righteous acts have been revealed.
Conclusion:
Moses writes: "Lord, teach us to number our days that we may
apply our hearts to wisdom!"
Just how realistic is it to have a life-goal of being a man or
woman of God? Why does that somehow sound like "preacher talk,"
borderline fanaticism?
No, we aren't timid about other kinds of goals. We say, "Give
me goals I can measure and display. Give me achievements that say to
all the world: Here is a success!"
But we will do well to learn to aspire to higher goals than
those we can set for ourselves!
Moses knew the people (he spoke to just before his death) would
say that being men and women of God was beyond them, too. But listen
to his words (from Deuteronomy 30:11):
Now what I am commanding you today is not too
difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in
heaven, so that you have to ask, 'Who will ascend into
heaven to get it and proclaim it so we can obey it?'
Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, 'Who
will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so
we may obey it?' No. the word is very near you; it is
in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.'
If the Bible is true then we had better be serious about letting God
help us with our life's goals! And if the Bible is true, then one day
we may all be taking part in a song the Apocalypse calls The Song of
Moses and of the Lamb! If God is our dwelling place, when the time
comes, the words and music will come along, too!
Prayer: Lord, You ARE our dwellingplace! Teach us how to number OUR
days that we may apply OUR hearts to wisdom. Amen.
#47 (EH) God of Grace and God of Glory
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.6 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Mar 19 1997 14:47 | 212 |
|
2/19/89 - #7 in Series John 11: 1 - 46 [Read 11:38 - 44]
JESUS RAISES LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD
Seeing Jesus in His Miracles
Introduction: In this passage of scripture we have the crowning
miracle of all the miracles that Jesus did before His passion. It is
the climax of John's revelation of the mastery of Jesus. It brought
about a crisis in His opposition that led directly to his arrest,
trial, and crucifixion. From the point of view of Christ's enemies,
desperate measures were needed against One who could demonstrate
authority even over death.
But we are interested in what this miracle reveals to us of the
character of Jesus:
Jesus is 'beyond Jordan' in a wilderness area, under pressure and
threat from the religious leaders. He gets word that Lazarus is
in trouble. It looks like He is afraid, because He remains in
place two days longer. And He is warned (v 8) NOT to go
back. Thomas (v 16) says: 'Let's go die with Him!' Jesus is on
the way. But He is "late."
I. THE TIMING OF JESUS IN RESPONSE TO EXPRESSED APPEAL FOR HELP ...
Jesus' TIMING is usually far from what WE might think He ought to
be doing:
Verse 6 "When therefore He heard that he was sick, He stayed then
two days longer in the place where He was."
I cannot hope to explain why Jesus, when he heard that Lazarus
was sick, stayed right where He was and apparently let Lazarus
die. But I am convinced that Jesus had reasons we will not know until
eternity why he tarried. Jesus has the "timing" of the whole world in
his control. And Jesus does not toy with personalities; He does not
treat people like laboratory animals.
As Jesus drew near, we know what He is going to do. In a few
minutes Lazarus will be restored to his family. But still Jesus
is deeply moved in His spirit (v 33). He weeps with those who
are weeping.
II. THE OBVIOUS AND APPARENT EMPATHY OF JESUS FOR THOSE WHO MOURNED
Jesus shared in the grief of those who mourned. He knew that
bereavement and sorrow are the keenest of pain; and He knew that His
delay had added to the pain.
Verse 35 "Jesus wept."
1. WHY? WHY DID JESUS WEEP?
Was He simply weak, and couldn't stand to see tears? Personally,
I believe that Jesus was strong like no other man or woman was ever
strong. In the words of the songwriter: "He had no tears for His own
grief, but sweat drops of blood for MINE!"
I believe Jesus wept because He cared! And I still think that
God grieves, and cares. I DON'T KNOW WHY HE DOESN'T INTERVENE AT
TIMES. HE HAS LIMITED HIMSELF. BUT I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THAT HE IS
GOD, AND THAT HE IS GOOD.
2. WHEN DID JESUS WEEP? at least two times:
Here. Over the sorrowing.
Over the city of Jerusalem. When He knew the city of Jerusalem
was rejecting Him. Over the lost, the rejectors.
Jesus cares enough about others -- about YOU and ME to have His
heart broken. Have you ever had your heart broken because people you
love were hurting themselves, or were going through deep water and you
couldn't help them?
Have YOU ever broken the heart of Jesus?
But one other thought here:
3. WHY and WHEN do WE weep??
[It certainly isn't weak or wrong to weep occasionally.] But what
do we weep about? "As the World Turns?" 'A dent in the new
car?' Lost opportunities?
Or, do we care enough about others to listen, and to love, and
to weep???
If Jesus wept, Jesus certainly also changed the expected
course of the proceedings that day! Jesus was not weeping because
He knew that death was the end! Jesus didn't see Lazarus illness
and death the same as anyone else there that day:
IV. THE PERSPECTIVE OF JESUS ON THE ILLNESS AND DEATH OF LAZARUS, AND
THE MASTERY OF JESUS REVEALED ... This different perspective is
apparent early on:
(11:4) "But when Jesus heard it (that Lazarus was sick) He said:
'This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of man may be glorified by it.'"
1. Jesus certainly did not view the situation in the same way
as any one else could view it. He said: "This illness is not unto
death." -- and yet Lazarus did die. How can we understand what Jesus
meant??
1) He could have been mistaken. (I discount that.)
2) He could have meant: "I know in advance that I will be in
Bethany in four days and I will reverse the process of death and
disintegration, and so the end will not what it seems now." It looks
on the face of it that this is what Jesus meant. But I am convinced
that Jesus had reasons we will not know until eternity why he
tarried. Jesus has the "timing" of the whole world in his control.
AND JESUS DOES NOT MANIPULATE US like laboratory animals.
3) What Jesus said is: "This illness of Lazarus, OR ANY OTHER
ILLNESS OR SITUATION IN MORTAL LIFE, does not finally end in death."
DEATH IS NOT THE FINAL GOAL FOR WHICH WE ALL ARE HEADING. And
Jesus could say that because He also could say what no one else ever
can say: "I AM the Resurrection and the Life."
In the far reaching eons of eternity, when this wonderful
Universe has gone through stage after stage of re-Creation the kernel
of reality that is your PERSON, your SPIRIT, the real YOU will still
be self-aware!
4) We grasp at the illusion of 'being in some semblance of
control' of our lives. We don't like to think that there is so much
about life and death that we cannot understand. Only Jesus can speak
with authority about life, death, and eternity:
ILLUSTRATION: [In 1975 Henri J. M. Nouwen wrote (in his book Reaching
Out,):
"Recently a student who had just finished his long studies for the
ministry and was ready to start in his first church suddenly died
after a fatal fall from his bike. Those who knew him well felt a
strong, angry protest arising from their hearts. Why him, a very
noble man who could have done so much for so many? Why now, just
when his long, costly education could start bearing fruit? Why in
this way, so unprepared and unheroic? There were no answers to all
these reasonable questions. A strong angry protest seemed the only
human response.
But such a protest is the continuation of our allusion that we know
what life is all about, that we rule it and determine its values as
well as its goals. We do not, and are challenged instead to convert
our protest against the absurdities of the human existence into a
prayer lifting us beyond the boundaries of our existence to him who
holds our life in his hands and heart with boundless love and mercy.
In our attempts to accept this challenge, we are wise to say to
ourselves with the words of the Psalmist:
You men, why shut your hearts so long,
loving delusions, chasing after lies?
Know this, Yahweh works wonders for those he loves,
Yahweh hears me when I call to him. (Psalm 4:2-3) ]
Our perspective is necessarily limited. We cannot see anything
redeeming about the death of a distinguished student in a biking
accident. The loss of a Rev. Dale Parry is stunning, unmixed tragedy
to us, and I do not even try to explain it away. I cannot see
anything attractive about burying a young man of 26 who is fast
"losing" a 10-year struggle with cancer.
But it is precisely when we cannot see or understand that we need
to listen to Jesus. We need to hear Him say: "This sickness is not
unto death!" And by faith we need to see that HE, and not WE, are the
masters of life. He, not we, determines what are life's greatest
values, and what are its eternal goals.
And by faith we understand that when we put our faith, our
trust, our life in Christ's keeping, then nothing of this wonderful,
mysterious, transient, tragic, joyful thing we call LIFE is meant to
END in death.
Conclusion: And so in this miracle we see THE MASTERY OF JESUS TO
BRING HOPE BEYOND HOPE
We still use these words of Jesus at just about every Christian
graveside. "I am the Resurrection and the LIFE!"
At Lazarus's grave he proved His Mastery by calling the dead man
forth-- but to the same kind of good life he had known before, not to
the glorified life that all the Church shall know when we see Him in
HIS glory.
But Jesus is just the same today as He was in Bethany; He loves
YOU as much as He loved Lazarus, as hard as that is to believe. He
cares about YOUR deep hurts and needs.
Prayer: Be present in a healing, assuring way in our Communion this
morning. Weep with us, O Lord, but also call forth the power of HOPE
into our lives! YOU are the Life! You are the Resurrection of Hope!
And You are HERE!
EH #28 - Oh, How He Loves You and Me
]------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.7 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Mar 19 1997 14:47 | 144 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 19, 1989 - p.m. - #8 in Series
John 21:1-11
THE MIRACULOUS CATCH
Seeing Jesus in His Miracles
Introduction: [I believe that the Book of John was intended to end
with the 20th chapter. But there was the personal matter of Simon
Peter that John wanted to relate. It may be one of the most beautiful
and personal stories in the Bible. It is also the occasion of Jesus'
last miracle on earth: The Miraculous Draught of Fishes.]
PETER RETURNED TO FISHING.
There may be many reasons, many ways to "go fishing. " Not many
of them are bad. Personally, I have found that going fishing is
almost ALWAYS a GOOD thing. But here...
It could have been a bad thing; a return to an occupation once
abandoned. It could have meant "It's over!" Anyway, this is where
Jesus first came upon Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
I. JESUS REVEALED HIMSELF ... IN A UNIQUE WAY, BY TELLING SEASONED,
EXPERIENCED FISHERPEOPLE HOW TO FISH. Do it MY way! And as His advice
was followed there was a demonstration of mastery. Luck? Well,
anyway, in this act of mastery it was the beloved disciple, John who
discerned "It is the Lord!"
Jesus knows more about your business than you do! In this age of
electronics and computers and public relations the Galilean Carpenter
is still Almighty God! And He is eternal in His understanding. (He
even understands physics!)
[I think sometimes about the story of a prosperous London
businessman who was asked by Queen Victoria to leave his
business for a while and tend to some of her interests in
India. It meant quite a sacrifice on his part.
But when he returned home several months or years later he found
that his business had prospered far beyond his fondest
hopes. For, as Her Majesty said, "You have been looking after MY
business, and while you were, I have been looking after YOURS!"]
The fishermen are elated: 153 LARGE fish! Not 'about 150!' Not
"counting them as they came there were almost 200 seekers ... "But
exactly 153 large fish!
II. JESUS DEMONSTRATED HOSPITALITY ... the first 'Men's Prayer
Breakfast' had fish on the menu! This wasn't a psychological ploy:
"Feed 'em, and then give 'em the business!" Jesus isn't that kind of
Person. But can you imagine Jesus fixing breakfast?
III. JESUS RENEWS THE CALL TO PETER - HE NEVER GIVES UP ON US!
BUT HE WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY RIVALS!
He had simply ONE question: Do you love Me? !!
1. Hold everything and everyone else "lightly." There are no
rivals. There is no expiration date on either God's call or His
love. I called you once. Will you follow Me?
(2.a Unspoken: 'Lord, You know as well as I know that that call
has been invalidated! I bragged how I would never deny You.
And I did!')
2.b Do you LOVE Me, Peter? Let's get it straight! Love is what
matters! Will you let ME by Lord and God?
3. But this call is at once a CORPORATE and an INDIVIDUAL
thing! I am calling you to help Me build My church! I am
giving you the keys to the kingdom.
But I am calling YOU in a way that is unique to YOU!
"What about John, Lord? You love HIM more than you love me!?!?"
"What is that to YOU? Follow ME!"
[This is essentially the way I "prepared" this message: Then
this noon after church Bert VanEgmond loaned me a little book by
Henri Nouwen, just out (1989), titled In the Name of Jesus. It is
based, partly, on this 21st chapter of John.
Henri Nouwen, whom I quoted from this morning, has left Harvard
and the glitter of academia and the speaking circuit to minister
in a community called L'Arche in Toronto. It was John 21:18
that gave him the courage to go. His words seem to have a fresh
"bite."
This little book was written to priests (and ministers) but let me
share its outline:
I. From Relevence to Prayer
The Temptation: TO BE RELEVENT
The Question: DO YOU LOVE ME?
The discipline: Contemplative Prayer
II. From Popularity to Ministry
The Temptation: To be Spectacular
The Task: FEED MY SHEEP
The Discipline: Confession and Forgiveness
III. From Leading to Being Led
The Temptation: To be POWERFUL
"Somebody Else Will Take You"
The discipline: Theological Reflection (as opposed to the
psychologies and sociologies which are necessary, but NOT
at the heart of Christian ministry.)
[Bill Van Buren, a member of L'Arche, went with Henri Nouwen on
the original presentation of this new book as a lecture, at the 15th
anniversary for the Center for Human Development. They stayed at the
Clarendon Hotel in the Crystal City, a very, very posh place as Henri
described it. He stood with Father Nouwen on the platform, and chimed
in from time to time. They did it together.]
IV. HERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU AND ME TO RE-AFFIRM OUR LOYALTY TO
JESUS!
1. If we need help in our BUSINESS ... whether that business is
studying-- or electronics-- or selling-- Jesus knows and cares about
the kind of work you do!
2. But beyond "busyness"-- even the tasks of doing the work and
will of God-- Jesus cares about our love! HOW DO WE ANSWER THE ONE
QUESTION JESUS ASKS US ALL?
Are we doing what we do because we love HIM?
3. Can we say: "What is that to ME? I will follow Jesus!"??
EH #22 O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.8 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Mar 19 1997 14:48 | 237 |
|
February 24, 1991
DRESS FOR DINNER
Introduction
There is one recurring nightmare that is common to many people
in one form or another. I confess that I have had this nightmare in
several different forms. Maybe you know the story: you are scheduled
to appear in public- perhaps make a speech or presentation- and at the
last minute you aren't properly dressed. Perhaps you are in your
underwear or worse. At any rate real panic sets in when you think of
how you are going to face the expectations of the people when you know
that you are unprepared.
I. TWO INSTANCES IN SCRIPTURE OF THIS "RECURRING NIGHTMARE"
A. The man and woman in the Garden. (Genesis 3)
The idea of clothing as covering goes back a long, long way. Eve
said to Adam, "I think the Lord Himself is coming to dinner, and I
don't have a thing to wear!" There in Genesis Chapter Three the man
and the woman in the Garden had a command performance when they
suddenly discovered they weren't properly dressed. A lot of sermons
have been preached about fig leaves and coats of skins provided by a
gracious God. But from the first book of the Bible to the last, it
seems to be important what we are wearing when.
After they had disobeyed God's clear commandment Adam and Eve
seemed to know they were naked, and they were ashamed of their
nakedness. Here was loss of innocence; here was the beginning of
genuine guilt. The result for Adam and Eve was a loss of the joy and
peace of the beautiful Garden, and exile from God's Presence.
B. The dinner guest at the wedding feast (text passage.)
Something of this same theme is carried in a parable or story
that Jesus told. He told it as a parable of what the kingdom of heaven
is like.
In this story a king is giving a wedding party for his son.
When his first invited guests don't show up, the king practically
shanghais a host of people come to the great celebration. They are
urged, cajoled, commanded to come-- to a banquet, a feast-- the high
point in the social calendar of a lifetime, perhaps.
But when the king walks through the banquet hall and sees a poor
fellow there experiencing a real-life episode of the recurring
nightmare, he has him put in handcuffs and shackles and sends him off
to the deepest, darkest, dankest dungeon in the realm.
Somehow, in our modern mind-set it hardly seems fair. We don't
know just how to take it. Then, as if to make the application even
more difficult Jesus tacks on the proverb:
For many are called, but few are chosen.
WHAT CAN THESE TWO STORIES ABOUT 'CLOTHES' HAVE TO SAY TO US?
II. CLOTHING AS A RESPONSE TO LIFE
A. Have you ever thought about THE MEANING OF CLOTHES?
Actually, dress is one way in which we respond to reality. How
many times have you said, "I'll listen to the weather person today to
see what I should wear"? A reasonable approach to clothes, certainly.
But warmth or protection from the elements are only one reason,
and perhaps not even the most basic or primary reason we wear
clothes. Perhaps you haven't thought much about it, but we wear
clothes because of modesty; we wear clothes as ornaments or fashion
statements; there are occasions when the wearing of clothing expresses
meaningful symbolism; think of a long white gown of lace with a sheer
veil; think of a khaki uniform with four stars on each shoulder; think
of a shirt with black and white stripes (which way do the stripes
run?); you see, we wear clothes for much more reasons than simply
protection from the elements.
B. Consciously or unconsciously, the way we dress makes a
statement. We try to learn to interpret; to look beyond
superficialities. We try to know the woman or the man and we say, "How
he or she dresses doesn't really matter."
I recall when holiness people wore uniforms, sure as can be. I
remember when sermons told people-- and mostly women-- how to and not
to dress. (Thank the Lord, those days are past.)
But like it or not we process appearance into what we think of
people.
C. In the scriptures, clothing often symbolizes or represents
the way we respond to life! Clothing ultimately becomes our
character! Our spiritual clothing is how we protect ourselves from the
spiritual realities; how we deal with our failures; how we act and
react in our relationships.
Listen to these words (in Isaiah 59) describing Messiah at least
in part in terms of what He is wearing, or 'puts on:'
Now the Lord saw that there was no justice and He saw
that there was no man . . .then His own arm brought
salvation to Him and His righteousness upheld Him; And
He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a
helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments
of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself with
zeal as a mantle (etc.)
We ourselves are commanded to "put on the whole armor of God"
and to clothe ourselves in Christ garments of grace, garments of
glory. And in the message of Jesus to the church at Laodocia he says:
I advise you to buy from Me . . . white garments, that
you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your
nakedness may not be revealed . . (etc.)
To be found undressed, or dressed improperly is not just
embarrassing in this spiritual sense, it means coming up short in
character. It means being incomplete in personal preparation for our
relationship with God Himself!
III. WHAT IS BEING CLOTHED PROPERLY IN CONTEXT OF REVELATION 16:15
[Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays
awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and they
see his shame. Revelation 16:15]
A. It means being clothed in righteousness. The great hymn says
in part that we may be "Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless
to stand before the throne." When we are saved we are justified
("Just-as-if-I'd"-never-sinned!) We are then clothed in Christ's
righteousness. HIS perfect life is IMPUTED to our account!
B. But these garments may be soiled. Jesus warns the church at
Sardis. Evidently the many have soiled their garments. What does
this mean?
Their works have not been completed; they have not followed
through. Like the wedding guest without the wedding garment, they
have not taken seriously the need for further preparation.
What does it mean to keep the garments of the spirit unsoiled?
C. A degree of alertness is required. (Text) Stay awake!
Keeping one's garments unsoiled means exercising the cleansing grace
of God. It doesn't mean perfection in the sense of performance. It
does imply utter seriousness about watching for the will of God; of
watching for the wiles of the enemy as well.
The blessing (beatitude) is for those who stay awake and for
those who keep their garments. It is NOT necessary to be embarrassed
when the king comes! We CAN be clothed in the righteousness of God's
grace!
CONCLUSION
There are TWO garments mentioned in the passage directed to
Sardis: There is the garment of GRACE which we may keep unsoiled; this
is the imputed righteousness that is sanctification begun, and
sanctification through and through, and sanctification up-to-date.
But there is another garment: the promise is that they who have not
soiled their garments SHALL WALK WITH ME (with Jesus!) IN WHITE! The
final clothes we shall wear will be like the glistening robes that
Jesus Himself wears! When we shall see Him, we shall be like Him!
Paul fairly sings to the Corinthians,
For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and
this mortal must put on immortality. Thanks be to God
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
I Corinthians 15
We have all be called to dinner! We are all invited! But Jesus
said, Many are called, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN! There is still time for us
to GET dressed and to STAY DRESSED for this greatest of all
invitations!
78(EH) When He Shall Come
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
Scripture
---------------------------------------------------------------------
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven
Spirits of God, and the seven stars, says this:
I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but
you are dead. Wake up and strengthen the things that remain, which
were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the
sight of God. Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and
keep it, and repent. If you therefore will not wake up,
I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I
will come upon you.
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their
garments; and they will walk with me in white; for they are worthy.
He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I
will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his
name before My Father, and before His angels.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.
Revelation 3: 1 - 6
Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
loin coverings . . . And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam
and his wife, and clothed them.
Genesis 3: 7, 21
Then (the king) said to his slaves, The wedding is ready, but
those who were invited were not worthy. God therefore to the main
highway, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.
And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered
together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was
filled with dinner guests.
But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw
there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him,
Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was
speechless.
Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and
cast him into outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Matthew 22: 8 - 14
Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays
awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and they
see his shame.
Revelation 16:15
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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|
5/14/89 - John 14:1-3,15-16,27
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also
in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I
would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for
you.. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back
and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. If
you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the
Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not
give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled, and do not be afraid.
PENTECOST, 1989
I called my mother Friday evening and told her I was proud
of her. This is Mother's Day weekend, you know. And I said to her
i the course of conversation, "What is your church doing for
Pentecost this year?"
And she said, "Is it Pentecost this Sunday?"
Here we are, celebrating one of the three greatest days of
the church... and probably MOST of the evangelical Christians
say: "Ho-hum-- Pentecost Sunday? so what?" So, what indeed!
I. THE CHRISTIAN PENTECOST IS VERY SIMILAR TO SINAI
A. The giving of the Law and the giving of the Spirit. The
first Christian Pentecost was a Great Day in the history of God's
relationship with humankind. It was an event of importance at
least equal to the giving of the Law on Sinai. The coming of the
promised Holy Spirit on the 120 was the establishment of a new
order of Chosen People, a New Israel of God.
B. First a covenant, then writing of the Law:
The First Israel was established, first in Covenant with the
Fathers; and then, in the giving of the Law on Sinai to Moses,
who humanly speaking, was the Convener of the nation.
The New Israel, the Church was established, first in the
promise to Peter and the disciples: (Matthew 16) "Who do you say
that I am?" "Thou art the Christ!" "Thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church!"; and then in the writing of the Law
upon the hearts of the believers.
(John Wesley says: "At the Pentecost of Sinai in the Old
Testament, and the Pentecost of Jerusalem in the New, were the
two grand manifestations of God, the legal and the evangelical;
the one from the mountain, and the other from heaven; the
terrible and the merciful one." Explanatory Notes, Acts 2:1)
C. It is highly significant that the Feast of Pentecost was
both a feast of first harvest, the wheat harvest; and a
remembering of the giving of the Law on Sinai.
For the Christian Pentecost was a great day of harvest, with
3,000 souls added to the New Israel; and it was the day that the
Holy Law of Christ's New Commandment was written by the Spirit on
the believer's very hearts. [Pentecost established a New Israel-
the Church!]
II. PENTECOST IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED WITH CHRIST'S PROMISES
A. Pentecost was/is a Christ-centered event:
We like to think we know all about Pentecost. We have
doctrines that tell us about the Holy Spirit, and what He DID,
and what He DOES, and what He is supposed to DO. But I wonder
sometimes if we could do better if we didn't already know so very
much!
The disciples didn't know what to expect. They did,
however, recall what Jesus had told them. They had ten days of
waiting and prayer and talking together, and when the Holy Spirit
came, Jesus was the focus of Peter's great message.
B. Jesus had said (in the words of our lesson):
1. I AM GOING - There was to be a period of temporal,
physical separation: (We are in that period of time just now.)
Jesus had given them to understand that He would be
physically leaving. It would certainly be a transition time. A
shaky, testing, wrenching time.
"But," He said, "I am going to my Father's house-- to
prepare a place for you. And ..." (Jesus had also said:) "I WILL
COME BACK AND TAKE YOU TO BE WITH ME."
By this they understood and believed that Jesus would be
physically returning. He would be literally coming back in His
resurrected body to gather His own to be with Him forever.
[But that is not all that Jesus had said that the disciples
thought about before the Day of Pentecost was fully come:]
2. Jesus said,"I COMMAND YOU TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER":
This was a vital part of Christ's Plan. He said, "I am
concerned about your love. It is what I value. If you love Me,
then be sure to do as I have commanded you." What, again, was
Jesus' New Commandment? John 13:34 Love one another as I have
loved you. Not just "Do unto others." The Golden Rule in
some form or other is a part of many codes; usually negative
(i.e., "Do NOT do to others what you wouldn't want them to do to
you.")
But: "Love like ME! Give like I have given!"
2.1 And so when Pentecost came, and the Holy Spirit was
given, IT WAS IN GREAT PART AN ENABLING FOR THIS COMMANDMENT!
3. Jesus had also spoken about 'another Comforter.' Here was
something of a new concept-- the dawning of the revelation of God
as Trinity.
Jesus said, "I WILL ASK THE FATHER AND HE WILL GIVE YOU
ANOTHER COUNSELOR." But at the same time Jesus had said, "I WILL
COME TO YOU!"
Jesus seemed to contradict Himself: I am going away,
but I will be with you even if you go to the uttermost part of
the earth. I'll be with you, Peter-- but I'll also be with you,
John. And I'll be with you, Bill Restrick, and you, Louise
Dygoski, and you, Fred Cawthorne! How is this possible?
Jesus said He would come again ... but He also said: "I will
go with you to the uttermost part of the earth.
"Before I come again, I will come to you!" What does this
mean? It is the secret of our faith! God resides in the
human heart!
4. But Jesus also had said, in this passage of promise: "I
GIVE YOU MY PEACE." 'The Holy Spirit, when He comes, will bring
you My most precious inner resource!'
'I'm not going to exempt you from struggle. But I AM going
to give you a supernatural peace that you can draw on!'
And these promises were what the disciples drew on as they
waited-- and what they experienced as the Holy Spirit came upon
them and made them The Church!
But are these same promises valid today? What about the
purity and the power and the feelings and the fruit and the
manifestations?
III. PENTECOST FOR YOU AND ME TODAY
A. Pentecost is given for real people in real life
situations: It is hard for us to realize how tough a world
situation the Early Church was born in: 1.) It is hard to
get perspective; is OUR world better or worse than Jerusalem in
A.D. 30 ?
There are probably good arguments on both sides. THEY
didn't have any of the left-over influence of generations and
even centuries of Christian faith. But OUR generation has
advanced in technology much faster than it has developed morally.
So we have the means to destroy ourselves much more efficiently.
Still, the prospects of 120 followers of a crucified Jewish
rabbi capturing their world for good and for love and for
righteousness seemed pretty remote. Just about as remote as
having Mikhael Gorbachev come to the altar and be saved!
2.) But if there was no Master Plan in the minds of the
believers, there WAS a willingness to live and die for the
Master. And the Master always has a plan!
B. IF WE WILL BEGIN WHERE WE ARE, AND LET THE PRESENCE OF
GOD CLEANSE AND PURIFY OUR HEARTS AND OUR HOMES, GOD HIMSELF IS
THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HOW GENUINE REVIVAL WILL SPREAD!
1.) But we need to begin, NOT with the world, but within our
own hearts and lives:
We need the power and the purity of Pentecost to begin to
make difficult personal choices:
1) you middle-school kids can choose to keep your minds
pure. When most of your friends spend several hours a day
watching MTV and other music that fills their minds with garbage,
God's kids can dare to be different! You can say "I'll let Jesus
watch TV with me!"
2) you business-type people can choose to make decisions on
the basis of what Jesus would have you do, and not simply what
turns the biggest profit:
[Illus One of our ENC representatives came back this week to tell
of a church in NY that had a key layman who was transferred away
at a huge raise-- but who turned down the transfer to "stay in
the ministry" of that local church. [Is profit wrong? Of course
not! But Jesus is Lord of ALL!]
2. If 120 could do what THEY did, what can 120,000 or
1,200,000 or 12,000,000 do in our world today? [And certainly
there ARE many, many sincere believers today saying: "Lord, Fill
ME with Your Spirit!"]
Once again, I say it reverently: "That is God's problem!"
But I want to be one of those who is available for God to use.
And I certainly want to see those I know and love saved.
But I do believe that God wants revival more than WE do! And
I also certainly do believe that only Pentecost can save our
nation and our world from self-destruction.
Being filled with God-- not just some narrow, parochial
experience that WE own-- BUT BEING FILLED WITH GOD UNTIL HE CAN
DO WITH US ANYTHING HE WILL-- is the heart of what Pentecost
means. Are YOU filled with God? Are YOU asking God to give to
you, in all your failure and weakness, all that He has for you?
HAS PENTECOST HAPPENED TO YOU?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have promised to come to us! You have
promised us Your peace! Grant to us this Pentecost Sunday a fresh
infilling of the same Spirit the disciples received 2,000 years
ago-- and do with us as You see fit! Amen.
#39 - Spirit of Faith, Come Down
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.10 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Mar 19 1997 14:50 | 163 |
|
LENTEN SERIES #1
THE CHRISTIAN PASSOVER
Sunday evening communion.
Lesson: Hebrews 9:11-22
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of
the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament,
that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called might
receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament
is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.For
a testament is of force, after men are dead: otherwise it is of
no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither
the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses
had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law,
he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet
wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the
people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath
enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the
tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
(22) And almost all things are by the law purged with blood;
and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Introduction:
As we come to the Table of the Lord again this evening, coming
from a world that is not in any way sympathetic with the things we
hold sacred and dear, we may be tempted to say: "What does Communion
have to say to me that makes sense in the world in which I live? What
does the Lord's Supper have to do with the real world?" Is it
relevant?
I ask you this evening, solemnly, "What IS the 'real world'?"
I'm sure that God is not confused by computers, and that He
understands all the nuances of onrushing history. Still, who do we
think we are by asking God to make Himself "real" to us on our terms?
Who are we to say to HIM what is important?
If God is God, and if we are His people, we need to acknowledge
that we need to be made relevant to the Truth, and not try to adapt
the Truth to our avenues of reality.
We look to an ancient story to show us how to obediently share
in the Table of the Lord: the story of Passover. Communion is the
Christian Passover.
I. THE CHRISTIAN PASSOVER
A. This is the covenant service God ordained that the children
of Israel observe perpetually to commemorate His deliverance of them
from Egypt and slavery, and forming them into a people He called His
own.
(We can easily listen to those who speak disparagingly of
"repulsive" blood rituals; so crude and so easily relegated to the
dim, dark past.)
What we do NOT realize is just how this ritual contrasted with
the other religions of the time; it highlights conflict - the conflict
with the pagan superstitions and sacrifices; man-centered religion;
sacrifice of human beings, children;
And it is easy for US to fall into man-centered thinking today,
too. We are "so sophisticated." Why do we need to speak of the cross
and of the blood of Jesus?
Instead we are sacrificing OUR generation's children! -literally,
in abortion- and just as literally, in materialism, damning our
children to life with no moorings or moral foundations...
B. God is God! We cannot "adapt HIM to us! We need a God who
is beyond our manipulation; a God who is the great I AM THAT I AM, and
who cannot be reasoned out of what is true.
There are good reasons for every command of God! The love of
God is behind His law. But all we need to know to begin with is: GOD
SAYS SO!
II. REGULATIONS OF PASSOVER FOR GOD'S PEOPLE
A. GOD SAID: IF YOU WILL OBSERVE PASSOVER I WILL DELIVER YOU
The problem of credulity versus faith: DOES GOD REALLY
INTERVENE IN OUR LIVES? ... a God who intervenes on His terms
B. GOD SAID: DO IT THIS WAY!
Obedience versus accommodation.
(1) Purging out leaven ...
(2) Preparing a sacrifice: revealing a principle: the innocent
for the guilty
C. GOD SAID: DON'T EVER FORGET!
A continuing covenant/ observance. God had great and noble
aims in mind for His people even when they could only think of
salvation in "negatives" (i.e. free from ).
D. IT WAS AT THAT PASSOVER THAT JESUS ESTABLISHED
THIS SACRAMENT
III. CHRIST OUR PASCHAL LAMB
A. At once a challenge and a great lift to our faith.
B. Our obedience must be CHRIST-CENTERED. We must not
accommodate rugged truth to our defective sensibilities. Christian
faith is not some sort of beautiful game we play!
THE 'OFFENCE'- the offensiveness of the cross is real! It is
NOT a beautiful ornament, even though we often wear it as such, and
forget its meaning. It is a means of execution, of death
THE LOVE OF JESUS - the innocence of the Lamb; the cross reminds
us of the hatred God has for sin and rebellion. It cannot simply be
forgotten. It must be forgiven!
C. A TIME FOR PURGING OUT OLD LEAVEN- Our preparation should be
sincere!
D. OUR OBSERVANCE WILL BE REWARDING!
- the Paschal Lamb became the food and sustenance for the
journey out of slavery and degradation. The unleavened bread
became the traveling food.
- the faith and the sustenance of the obedient observance of
Communion is genuine!
IV. LIVING BY LOVE
- we have been taught to "live by the rules" and we have learned
to "do" and "not do" until we can be comfortable in our
outward conformity.
- the secret of Communion is that we share it with Jesus Christ
the Lord
[Close service with EH #24 I Cannot Tell]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.11 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Mar 19 1997 14:50 | 160 |
|
February 23, 1997
ABRAHAM'S CHALLENGE
Genesis 17:1
I love the story of Abraham. Even across millennia, I feel
connected to the father of faith. It is easy for me to see why three
great world religions look to Abraham as the one who showed them what
it means to walk with God by faith.
It is easy for us to try to fit the life of Abraham into our
understanding of theological truth. Frankly, I don't know any other
way, because that is my understanding of truth. Perhaps we shouldn't
say "Now this is where Abraham was saved, and here is where he was
sanctified, and so forth." But here in this passage (Genesis 17)
there definitely is a challenge to Abraham to move to a new level of
trust and faith.
Abraham had left his native land to follow God. He had started
out not knowing where he was going. Furthermore, Abraham had made
covenant with God simply on the basis of trust (see Genesis 15:6.)
But now in old age, when Abraham's best years seem to be behind him,
God asks Abraham to move up. This call to move higher reached Abraham
at the very point of his weakness and inability. (When we think it is
all over, maybe God is thinking about beginnings!) "When Abraham was
ninety years old and nine YHWH appeared . . ."
We could easily get sidetracked by the use of the word "perfect."
God's challenge was to walk before Him and be perfect, or blameless.
Abraham responded perfectly to God's challenge. It wasn't a perfect
performance God was looking for, for Abraham's performance before and
after this covenant was not without flaws. But Abraham fell on his
face before God. He prostrated himself in worship and submission. He
agreed with God, he continued to believe God's word; Abraham's perfect
response was simply total willingness to belong to God and God alone.
This faith of Abraham and Sarah was not that they believed they
would do great things with God's help. Rather, they believed God
would do whatever God wanted to do with them. God would do great
things if God said so. Abraham himself became a living sacrifice, and
God could have him, weakness and all.
Two things took place when God challenged Abraham to a closer
walk with Himself. God changed Abraham's and Sarah's names. Scholars
cannot say for sure what the new names mean; the best explanation for
me is that God took a part of his own name and put it into Abraham's
and Sarah's names. One thing is for sure-- when God changes a name it
is significant, and it means a life, a character is being changed for
the better. When we hear God's challenge to move up, to believe Him,
it is a life- changing, character-changing thing.
God also established the old testament covenant of circumcision
that day. He asked Abraham, the man of faith, to accept a permanent
sign of the covenant, and forever to belong to God. Being circumcised
did not save Abraham. Being baptized will not save you. But
Abraham's faith resulted in obedience. Whatever God said, Abraham
listened, and believed, and obeyed.
The Gospel lesson from Mark 8 is Abraham's challenge all over
again. It is a call to a deeper walk, a higher way. That challenge
is open to us all: Jesus was speaking to the twelve disciples, and yet
at this point he also included all who would listen, "the multitude,"
and he said,
If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me. It is clear that God's call is to the
whosoever: John 3:16 "God so loved the world . . .that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Peter
tells us (2 Peter 3:9) " The Lord is . . . longsuffering to us-ward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance."
(We are all called, but not everyone-- in fact not many-- respond
to that call. In fact, it seems as though there are at least two
levels of Christians-- many are called-- few are (finally) chosen.
But those who do choose to follow, to walk with Jesus, he has promised
His Presence.)
Dr. (Edward S.) Mann used to begin one of his great sermons with
a bit of poetry. I probably don't have it exactly right, but this is
how I remember it: (I don't know who wrote it . . . )
Behold, I set before you a way,
and ways,
and a way.
And the high soul goes the high way,
And the low soul gropes the low.
And in between, on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.
But to each is opened
a high road and a low,
And each one must determine
The way his soul would go.
The challenge to Abraham, and the call from Jesus to each one of
us, is to deliberately choose the high road of walking before God, or,
as Jesus put it, of following after Him.
Jesus makes it clear and simple what the steps are if we want to
take the high road. They are just three:
We are to deny self.
We are to embrace the cross.
We are to follow Jesus.
To deny one's self is not to deny one's self of something. It is
to ask God to do what we cannot do-- to seal us with His Spirit-- to
circumcise the heart-- It is a willingness to be His love-slaves for
time and eternity. It is to take self out of the center and to seek
with all one's heart to know and do God's will.
Some of the disciples loved Jesus that much. They wanted to be
where He was. They were willing to give up their own selfish wills.
And when the Holy Spirit was given to them they found that their
hearts were made pure, and it was possible to deny self and delight in
God's will at any cost.
To take up the cross is more than being willing to die for Jesus.
It is being willing to LIVE for Him-- it is making an offering of our
lives to Him. The world lives for happiness. If a relationship is
painful, throw it away. If promises or responsibilities get in the
way of happiness, throw them aside. "We deserve it!" But to take up
the cross is to say with Jesus, "Thy will, not mine be done, even when
it costs!"
To follow Jesus means simply that this higher road, this deeper
walk has the great privilege of always being where Jesus is. God's
challenges are always in the context of covenant-- and we can count on
it, God keeps his word.
If we will take the time to listen these days and weeks of Lent,
we will hear God calling us to come and walk with Him. Wherever you
are on your spiritual journey, God wants to make covenant with you.
He wants to unfold His best will for you, in you. But God's best and
highest come only as we, like Abraham, go down on our faces before
God-- as we, obeying Jesus, are willing to deny self, take up our
cross, and follow Him.
Shall we pray:
Prayer (of A. W. Tozer)
I am your servant, Lord. How I want to be a good disciple. Lead
me; awaken me-- not that I might be great through you, but that you
might be glorified through me. Amen
#462 Sweet Will of God
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.12 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Wed Mar 19 1997 14:50 | 158 |
|
March 16, 1997
LIFE BEYOND PAIN
Psalm 51 "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."
John 12 "Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say?"
"Where I am, there also will my servant be."
"Sir, we would see Jesus!"
Introduction
One of the lessons from the scripture lessons today may be one we
don't particularly want to hear. Before the resurrection there is a
cross. Good Friday comes before Easter. The hard lesson for today is:
sooner or later life will involve us in real pain. With that lesson,
the scriptures hold up to us a mirror, and a challenge.
The "mirror" that the scriptures hold up to help us see ourselves
is found in Psalm 51. The pain there is David's pain. In some ways it
can be like our own.
I. David's pain
David was in an agony of guilt. He had done some terrible things,
no mistake about that. He had betrayed another man by seducing his
wife. He had multiplied that betrayal by scheming to have the man he
had betrayed killed to cover his guilt. And David had gotten away
with it for a while.
David had swept his guilt under the carpet of activity, and of
forgetting. But God sent a prophet to confront him. Nathan the brave
prophet told David an intriguing story. David could be enraged about
another person's injustice, even though he had destroyed a home, and
had killed an innocent man. But then Nathan said, "Thou art the man!"
David came face to face with his own sin and guilt. It hurt! And
this Psalm is a record of what happened next.
David's pain was deserved. Guilt is not an evil thing. It is the
result of evil. Guilt is like physical pain. It is necessary, even
healthy. But like pain, guilt is not to be ignored or covered up or
accommodated. God wants his people to find freedom from the pain of
guilt. I am in no way saying your sins or mine were as gross as
David's, although that is possible. But I am saying that every one of
us has sinned. We have known what it feels like to be caught in the
wrong. That is the mirror. Psalm 51 holds up to us the mirror of
confession: we do not have to live with that kind of pain.
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)
The only sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin that we refuse to
bring to the light. We do not have to live with the pain of guilt.
David prayed that the JOY would be restored. David prayed that
he would know the Presence of God. And that prayer was answered. The
grace of God has broken the guilt and the power and the eternal
penalty of sin forever.
Transition: But there is another sort of pain in our lessons for
today. It is the pain of the Lord Jesus Himself.
II. The pain of Jesus.
This was a very different sort of pain from what David knew.
Looking immediately ahead to the passion, the climax of his earthly
ministry, to the cross Jesus said, "Now is my soul troubled, and what
shall I say?" This was not guilt. This was not deserved. This was
pain endured as the price of love. (Gethsemene underscores this pain)
I don't pretend to understand such love, but I think I know this
much: Jesus did not swerve aside from His cross because He loved the
Father, and because He loved you and me.
Love costs. Love will demand sacrifices. Love cost Jesus-- and
yet Jesus saw something He believed He could reach in you and me. The
writer of Hebrews says that Jesus saw a JOY set before him that
enabled him to go forward even when it cost him.
This pain of Jesus, this great giving LOVE, is to me not a
mirror: I don't see myself in His story. I am not of myself pure and
holy. I am not a hero or a martyr. I am not able to save anyone. I
can identify with David, and ask for forgiveness for my sins. But I
cannot identify with Jesus. No one is good and holy like Jesus.
The pain of Jesus is to me a challenge. I cannot think of myself
in the same sentence as Jesus, but somehow Jesus asks me to follow
him. He asks you as well: "Deny yourself! Embrace your cross!
Follow me!" It cost Jesus his life. It will cost us, too.
What sort of challenge is this? What does it mean to follow
Jesus? (I still am trying to cope with that challenge we heard again
for the first time this Lent: "If anyone will come after me let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.")
To embrace the cross may mean in plain language:
Giving up what WE want so that someone else may have what they need.
or Forgiving someone who has wronged us even though they don't deserve it.
or Giving our service to others even though we have not been served.
or Listening to someone else's heartaches even when we have heartaches
of our own.
There is a pain that we can and should escape. We do not need to
live with the pain of guilt. But there are times when we hear the
challenge of Jesus' pain: "My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?
Get me out of this?" and the answer is "Lord, just let me follow You
whatever it costs!"
To accept this challenge to follow Jesus is worth whatever it
costs! HOW? Once again, this is something we each much answer for
ourselves, but I think I know this much:
1) we can be with the One we love. ("Where I am there also will
my servant be." If we can be with Jesus it is worth whatever it costs.)
2) we can share the JOY of Jesus. There is no joy like hearing the
Father say, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!"
and, that day, when Jesus did not shrink back from the cost of love,
the Voice said, "I have glorified (my Name)! ("I AM pleased!")
("I AM glorified in what you are!") and ("I WILL BE glorified again!")
Conclusion:
Life will NOT be pain-free. But life can have its full share of
joy.
God's GRACE enables us to deal with the pain of guilt. We can
come and confess as sinners, and be born again into the kingdom of
God. We can confess our need for grace as Christians, and maintain
the necessary course-corrections that keep us in fellowship with God
and with one another. The Lord's Prayer reminds us of our need for
the grace of forgiveness.
God's LOVE calls us to embrace the cross. We certainly do not
seek any way of pain. We pray "Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil." But also we hear our Lord say, "Follow me!"
PRAYER
Almighty God, You alone can bring into order the unruly wills and
affections of those who come by faith to you. Grant your us your
people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise;
that, among the dizzying changes of this world, our hearts may surely
stand firm where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever.
#547 - Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone (First Two Verses ONLY)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.13 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Tue Mar 25 1997 11:42 | 83 |
|
I THIRST
John 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
I. THE WORD OF HUMANITY
There is always a danger that the most sacred things we know will
become mere matters of record. William Barclay recalls another
preacher talking about 'running around the burning bush taking
photographs from suitable angles instead of taking off our shoes from
our feet because the place whereon we stand is holy ground. He speaks
of theologians who put their pipes in their mouths and stick their
feet up on the mantlepiece and talk about theories of the atonement
instead of bowing down before the wounds of Christ.'
I don't like to talk about the suffering of Jesus. I am afraid we
might think of it as another statistic or story. How many TV killings
have we seen? How cheap does human life appear?
But suffering can never be a matter of statistics.
'I THIRST' must remain a cry of mystery.
The One who created the seas needs a drink of water. Somehow we
understand that Jesus Christ is very MAN as well as very God. He is
forever committed to be one with YOU and with ME. He is forever one
of US!
But 'I THIRST' is assurance of understanding at the throne. At
the heart of God is one who KNOWS what it is like to be human and to
suffer -- to be alone -- to hurt -- to weep -- to thirst! When WE
hurt, Jesus hurts! For He cares!
And 'I THIRST' is qualification for representation at the throne.
At the heart of God is One who represents the thirsty of the world!
II. JESUS SAID SOME THINGS ABOUT WATER AND THIRST:
(1) John 4:14 (to the woman at the well:) But whosever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be a well of water springing up into
everlasting life.
(2) (At the Feast of Tabernacles) John 7:37-8 In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, "If any
man thirst let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth in me,
as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water.
We are to share this living water. To slake our own thirst --
and then share what we have received. I don't mean to entirely
spiritualize this business of thirst and water. BOTH aspects are
here.
III. AND JESUS STILL IS SAYING: "I THIRST!"
"I thirst!" is a cry that we must learn to listen for where we
are -- and with what water we have!
Matthew 25:35, 42 "I was thirsty and you gave me a drink!", or,
"I was thirsty and you gave me NO drink."
We cannot do ALL . . . but we all can do what we can do, in Jesus'
name. By God's love and grace we can do better.
We can never know why or how Jesus is fully human, and why and
how He needed a drink there on the cross: but the One who said 'I
THIRST' can satisfy our thirst, and make you and me channels of living
water!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.14 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Tue Mar 25 1997 12:49 | 243 |
|
October 14, 1990
Psalm 30:1
I will extol Thee, O Lord,
for Thou hast lifted me up,
and hast not let my enemies rejoice over me."
I WILL EXTOL THEE, O LORD
Introduction
This is a Psalm of thanksgiving to God because He has brought the
Psalmist David through a time of deep trouble. Just what the trouble
was this time, the Psalmist does not say. But David was certainly no
stranger to trouble.
One reason that the Psalms have such great appeal to us all, why
we find it easy to identify with David, is that in the Psalms we often
find expression of our deepest, inmost feelings: David feels good for
whatever reason- and he says so; he feels anguish for whatever cause-
and he says that, too.
From time to time I can identify with both his highs and his
lows. Can't you?
[Some of the "lows" David knew he brought on himself, by being
careless, or disobedient, as when he numbered the people against
the best advice of his counsellors, or when he backslid into the
grievous sins of adultery and murder.
[Some of the "lows" David experienced came when he was being
perfectly obedient to God, doing what he was supposed to be
doing and yet he looked trouble in the face, as when Saul sought
to kill him.
[And I like to think that some of the "lows" came because David
was Jesse's son, and Jesse may have been a dour Geordie or a
somber Presbyterian Scot by nature. I think I know a bit about
that, too.]
Whatever the reasons for David's "lows," he refused to simply
accept them as inevitable or normal. David fought them! In I Samuel
30:6 it is written that David was "greatly distressed," but also that
"David encouraged himself in the Lord!" Then, after God had lifted
him, and had come through to bring him victory and joy, David recited
over and over to himself, and to everyone and anyone who would listen,
about how great God IS to hear and to come to the aid of those who cry
to Him in their distress.
I. LIVING IN OPENNESS BEFORE GOD IN THE STORMS OF LIFE
A. The storms of life, the "hard places," come to every one of
us. And yet when those challenging times come they usually seem to
surprise us. We do not think that any low places ought to be in our
life.
David reflects this tendency for us to deny, (in verse 6,) when
he says: "I said in my prosperity 'I will never be moved!'" I'm wiser
now! I've had troubles before, but I'll never have trouble like that
again.
Or, "I'm a Christian-- so I should never even be tempted to be
depressed." And yet in spite of our personal theology, of what and
how we think, the "low times" come to us all!
B. It is true that depression can follow sin or moral failure and
breakdown. God has forgiveness and restoration as well as healing when
this happens. But there are other causes for depression as well:
Some of the storms that shake us are related to the "passages" of
life. Growing up, or growing older-- facing new experiences--
any and every form of cultural change brings a threat to the
comfort of the status quo. Every move that a family makes brings
about inevitable cultural clash. Every promotion at work, or
demotion, for that matter, every adjustment we have to make
brings an emotional price that we have to pay.
Physical illness often brings emotional depression, and with it a
feeling of spiritual emptiness. Many kinds of disappointment
leave us vulnerable to what David was feeling. Friends let us
down. A job we wanted doesn't materialize. Family
misunderstandings cause concern and even anguish and grief.
C. But even though we may have said, like David, "I said in my
prosperity 'I shall never be shaken!'"--this can't happen to me-- when
we wake up to find that it HAS happened, we need, like David, to say
so! To admit to ourselves, and especially to God, "I need Your help!
Show me where I'm wrong, if I am-- but help me!" God hears such
praying!
II. THERE IS A GOD WHO HEARS US IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM
A. God hears your prayer! David testifies here (verse 2) "I cried
unto Thee, and Thou didst heal me!"
What I am telling you this morning, on the authority of God's
Word, is that God loves us, and knows us, and that God hears every
prayer that we pray, even in the middle of a storm of life!
B. Every situation is unique! But I also need to say that there
are very few 'textbook experiences.' We want to be insulated from the
harsher sides of reality, and avoid pain at all costs, and live
without strain or ruffled feathers. But then when the storms come we
begin to realize that what we talk about may well be true, but also we
find we know very little in actual experience.
[I recall a mini-storm that took place many years ago in another
state. I was up in the wee hours with a couple undergoing severe
problems. As a young pastor I was challenged to my depths and
beyond-- and I would be severely challenged by the same problem
today!
[But the irony I felt most keenly that night was that I had
recently written, and had had published, words of comfort that
came to me in accusation during those hours of extreme
stress: "You wrote about God's sufficiency! NOW you are feeling
stress! You are a hypocrite!"
[Well, I wasn't a hypocrite! But I was sure paying my dues! It is
a comfort to know that someone else has weathered such a storm--
usually!]
C. God works in His own mysterious way! What I am trying to say
here is: We need to be careful HOW we speak for God! He is a very real
Friend in our need! But I do not own Him. You do not have a corner on
Him. He knows better than we know what our friends can bear, and what
they need. And He does come through! Every time! God does not abandon
those who trust in Him!
III. DELIVERANCE BEGINS WHEN WE HAVE THE ASSURANCE GOD KNOWS
A. Be assured God knows! The enemy's tactic is to convince us we
are isolated, alone-- and not even God hears or cares to hear!
B. Do not despise providential means! Often our deliverance comes
along avenues of Providential guidance. God expects us to use what
resources we have. It is useless to pray for help on an exam when we
have never cracked a book in study.
{Illus: A religious man in flood time looked to God for
deliverance. The waters came to his front door, and a boat came
by with the invitation to ride to higher ground and shelter.
"I'm trusting the Lord!" said the brother with a smile.
Soon the waters were even with the second story, and another
rescue boat came by his bedroom window. He waved it off- "I'm
trusting in the Lord!"
But the waters cam higher yet, and he climbed to the roof and
then sat on the chimney. A helicopter pilot saw his plight, and
a sling was lowered. The man gritted his teeth and waved the
helicopter away: "I'm trusting the Lord!"
After the waters swept him and his house away in total loss, the
man opened his eyes in the glory of heaven. He asked the Lord
immediately, "Didn't You hear me praying?"
"I sent you two boats and a helicopter!" was the Reply. More
truth than humor in this story!}
C. In all honesty, some times there is literally nothing more
that we know to do, and still we are swept by the storm.
Psalms now puts it this way: "There are times when I feel God's
anger, but even then I know His concern and love for me remain
eternal. And my nights of despair resolve into the dawn of new joy."
It pays, in times like these, when we don't know what to do, to
hang on in the confidence that God does love us, God does hear us, and
God will never abandon us. God will come through!
IV. (Conclusion) THE BENEDICTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL LIFE
A. The benediction I have been using this fall-- "Humble
yourselves...Casting all your care upon HIM, for He careth for YOU!"--
comes from I Peter 5. I would like to read the entire short paragraph
from which the benediction has been taken.
I Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves. therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that
He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety
upon Him, because He cares for you.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil,
prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same
experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your
brotherhood who are in the world. And after you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His
eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you.
To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
B. This benediction tells us that there is a part we play in the
fight against bitterness and despair. We can cooperate with God's
grace! "Humble yourselves!" You need the mighty hand of God! And
here's how:
- Be vigilant; don't expect an uncontested pathway to glory
- Be resistant. This is a fight of faith. Don't give in to fear
or despair or bitterness.
- Be patient. There will be suffering. But it will pass.
- Be Present to God! for GOD HIMSELF IS AT WORK IN YOU!
C. Finally, our thanksgiving takes the form of a confessional
statement. Back to the text: I WILL EXTOL THEE, O LORD!
This "confession" can begin even while we are in the struggle!
It is effective there!
Confession is more than part of repentance and conversion,
although it is that. Confession is even more than living in openness
before God, although it certainly is that, too. Confession is more
than a formal prayer to say every time we come together in worship. A
confessional statement says:
This is MY God! I belong to HIM! HE does not exist for MY
convenience, but rather, I EXIST FOR HIM!
But my God does not abandon His children, ever, ever, ever!
PRAYER:
#81(EH) My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.15 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri May 02 1997 15:19 | 189 |
| Subj: Sermon: About Our Father's Business(1991)
April 28, 1991
A Song of Ascents
Psalm 126
When the Lord brought back again the
captive ones of Zion, we were like those who
dream. Our mouth was filled with
laughter, and our tongue with joyful
shouting; then they said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.
Restore our captivity, O Lord, as the
streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears shall reap with
joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro
weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall
indeed come again with a shout of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.
ABOUT OUR FATHER'S BUSINESS
Annual Meeting Sermon
Introduction
Annual Meeting Day is a day to celebrate our church! Our
corner of the great Zion of God! [I have a reputation of hating
board meetings, and business meetings. But actually I have come
to enjoy them for the most part, for I love the business of the
church, which the board sees more and more as Christ's own work!]
Annual meeting is a day of inventory, yes. We have reports.
It is also a day of appreciation, when we appreciate those who
carry burdens and lift loads for others. Annual Meeting is also
the end of one year and the fresh new start on another, beginning
with fresh resolve and with renewed vigor.
[Psalm 126 was a Psalm that Jewish people sang as they made
their way to Jerusalem for the special days of worship. I find it
helpful many times each year; I find it applies very well to our
Annual Meeting thoughts:]
I. A TIME OF ASSESSMENT:
"The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad"
One of the great things God has
done this year is help us have
A. An enhanced missions awareness: Just a little more than a
year ago our cozy family was stirred up-- Restricks went off to
Portugal, Janice and John Nielson left for Manila and soon
Stephanie Brank followed; Todd Wanner went of to a city called
Teguciagulpa in Central America.
But the day the Restricks were "sending off," the Jon Scott
family began to arrive; we have been challenged, and a W & W team
has gone to the Azores, and Margaret Scott (out doing missionary
work this morning) has kept the challenge before us to "think
world-wide!"
But that is hardly all; we also have
seen God challenge us with
B. A door opening in Codman Square to urban ministry: Just this
week Pastor Nielson and I spent some time with District
Superintendent Neale McLain, and the plan on the part of our
church and the district is to be hand-in-hand in the sponsoring
of this work. We need to pray daily for Pastor Dennis Scott and
for Pastor Nielson, who has been presiding over a board of
directors for the fledgling church. [Deep appreciation for
William Wagner, Esq.]
This year also God has done a great
thing for our nation, but for each of us and
our church as well by
C. Giving us a respite from the trauma and insecurity of the
Persian Gulf crisis: How soon we forget! But the entire nation
sat in front of its collective TV screen and watched with genuine
FEAR as SCUD missiles fell on Tel Aviv. We wondered how could
the euphoria of the Berlin wall's coming down evaporate so
quickly because of some man we had never paid any attention?
But God did hear our prayers, and the prayers of many of
His people. Armageddon did NOT happen.
The history of this past year for our
church is not complete, however, unless each
os us adds or subtracts our own spiritual
journey.
D. The Church year finally reflects the sum total of how well
each of us individually and together carried out the will of God
in our lives.
But what IS God's will for you and me?
What is the assignment of the CHURCH?
II. A LOOK AGAIN AT OUR ASSIGNMENT "He that goes forth, weeping,
carrying his SEED . . ."
A. The Psalmist writes about GOING. That could symbolize the
TASKS of the church as we have come to understand them. We see
the tasks of the church as FIVE: Worship, Evangelism, Education,
Fellowship, and Service. These combine and overlap, but anything
less than these and the church suffers. Anything more, and it is
hard to justify as being the church's assignment; other worthy
tasks belong to other worthy institutions.
B. But the Psalmist also speaks about WEEPING. Weeping could
signify the spirit in which the five tasks are carried out. The
church does not simply grind out its business like a saw-mill or
a sausage factory. Church people enter into the lives of those
to whom they relate; they are to rejoice and weep and invest in
people.
But there is an even more important factor here; going
and weeping are "necessary but not in and of themselves
sufficient!"
C. Finally everything depends on the SEED!! The SEED is the
LIFE! And the SEED has to do with relationship to God.
Jesus said, (John 17:3 - Jesus was praying-) And this is
eternal life, that they may know YOU, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
Unless there is SEED in the ground there never will be a
harvest! Unless there is SEED planted there will never be one
bit of life sprouting up from all the GOING and the WEEPING, be
it ever so sincere! And the SEED is the knowledge of Jesus
Christ-- it is the GOSPEL-- it is the GOOD NEWS!
Jesus and His church do not exist to make our
lives better! They do not do what they do in order to
simply enhance the way we live! Jesus and His church
are LIFE! Jesus and His church are in the LIFE GIVING,
LIFE SHARING BUSINESS!
The SEED is all-important! It is vital that we GO and go
better than we have before. It is vital that we WEEP and LAUGH
and CARE more sincerely than we have before. But we have to
INCARNATE CHRIST'S LIFE! WE CANNOT SHARE WHAT WE
DON'T HAVE! Our assignment is to KNOW and to SHARE Jesus!
This Psalm of Ascents closes with
III. A CONFIDENT ASSURANCE " . . . shall doubtless return with a
shout of joy, bringing sheaves . . . "
A. If we have the SEED, and are willing to share it, we cannot
fail. It is good to have a plan; seminars on soul winning are
great; every church should have a mission statement and plans to
implement it. But really, if there is LIFE, and if there is
CARING, and if there is a WILLINGNESS TO GO, just about any
plan will work.
If there is not genuine knowledge of Jesus, then NO plan
will make Christians!
B. (Conclusion:)
Two words come to my mind as I close this Annual
Meeting sermon: Those words are INCARNATION and
RELATIONSHIP. God wants to LIVE IN us! I believe that
God DOES live in this church!
But God also wants to TOUCH through us! We CAN go
forth! We CAN care, WE CAN WEEP, WE CAN LOVE EACH
OTHER--and by God's grace we can love the LOST!
As individuals we cannot do everything, but we can do something!
And even as a CHURCH our horizons may not extent where others,
outside, may think they should go. But God can, God WILL make us
effective in the place where He Himself has planted us!
O God Our Help in Ages Past
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.16 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri May 02 1997 15:19 | 218 |
| Subj: Sermon: The Shepherd and The Door
John 10:9 Jesus: "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall
be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
THE SHEPHERD AND THE DOOR
Isn't it strange and wonderful that in this suave and civilized
society the most cherished concepts of our faith have to do with sheep
and shepherd? We are hardly a pastoral group, here, and yet we call
our preachers 'pastor,' and we take great comfort in knowing and
reciting: "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want!" "We are His
people, and the sheep of His pasture," says the Psalmist (Psalm 100)
and there is great comfort in that assurance.
And Jesus declares that as our Good Shepherd he will
(1) give His life for us, and that His intention is that
(2) we might share the very quality of His life: "I have come that
they might have LIFE," He says, "And that they might have it
more abundantly." John 10:9
I. WHERE THE SHEPHERD HAS LED US:
Most of my message today has to do with vision, or of what our church
here can be under God's leadership. But a so-called 'State of the
Church' message needs to also deal with the church as it is, and
what the past year has brought forth.
The kind of church year we have had must be reflected on a personal
level by each of us; if we have been saved, or sanctified, or brought
closer to the Lord this year, then the church year has been, in one
very important way, a success. And no matter what the statistics show,
if you or I have not grown in God's grace and love this year, then to
that extent the church has failed.
But the composite picture of the church year is generally good. In
addition to the facts and figures in our Annual Report booklet, which
show involvement in several areas of ministry and financial increase
as we meet the challenge of physical expansion, we have added 28 new
members this year, twelve (12) by profession of faith. We have also
lost 23 members by transfer and death, thus showing a net increase of
five. This is a good indicator, but I will be surprised and
disappointed if we do not show an increase in this vital statistic
next year at this time.
II. WHERE THE GOOD SHEPHERD WANTS TO LEAD US:
I have no other way of presenting this than my own vision of what the
Good Shepherd is saying here about what He wants to do with His
"sheep." In this passage Jesus combines two figures in Himself; He
says both I AM the Good Shepherd, and I AM the Door! "By ME," Jesus
says, "You enter and are saved, and then, you go in and out and find
pasture."
A. I see the Church as a place of sanctuary, of healing, of salvation:
THE CHURCH AS A HAVEN OR SANCTUARY "By ME ye shall be saved..."
The church is a place of salvation. Maybe you think it is weak or
cowardly of me to want a place, to even crave a place, where I can go
and not get pressed and beaten with the "wisdom" of our civilization.
But I think one great function of the church is to be a retreat, a
different place, a holy place, often a quiet place where the Shepherd
can lead me beside the still waters and restore my soul. God wants
our church to be a place of healing and salvation and receiving love
and life, a place where life begins! But we "COME IN" for more than
just salvation and succor. I also see:
B. I get the "picture of" the Church as a "Come" Place:
"By Me ye shall go 'IN!'":
The Presence of the Good Shepherd makes a church an attractive place
to COME IN:THE CHURCH AS A HOME
"By ME ye shall go IN..." Maybe in many respects that is the same
thing as seeing the church as sanctuary or haven. Certainly both of
these concepts- "sanctuary" and "home" are "IN" functions of the
church. They see the church as a "COME" place-- and that is all
right. It is a COME place! "By Me ye shall go IN!"
And if Jesus is the Shepherd, the Door, there will be a lot to go in
for! A home is much more than just a nursery where children are
born. And while a home is, or should be, a sanctuary, it is much, much
more. A home is NOT always a quiet place. A home bustles with
activity. There are times around the table-- both the banquet table
(like Thanksgiving Dinner) and the picnic table.
Can we talk about receiving spiritual food for just a moment?
People say:'I want to go to a church where I can be fed.' And
certainly a church is a place where people should receive
spiritual nourishment. But there is a difference between a home
and a filling station, between filling up your car's gas tank with
unleaded, and sitting down at the dinner table with people you
love. We can think of the table as a place where we get refueled to go
"out" and do the important things like make a living and play
tennis and go to school and go fishing. But every happy family
knows that what happens around the table, and how it happens, and
the spirit in which it happens is as important as the "going out."
Perhaps the attitude of each one of us can help determine whether our
church will be a filling station or a dinner table.
Worship is the central purpose of any Christian church. What is
essential is that we come in contact with the Good Shepherd
regularly.
Worship is not just a matter of what and how we do, but worship must
always involve being before the Lord, and a deliberate seeking of God,
and God's will, and subjection to God's Word. There is a lot more I
would like to share about what we do in the "COME" or "IN" functions
of our church, and why we do, and how we do, but our time is limited.
I would like to talk about the difference, in Sunday School class,
between teaching and learning a "lesson" as opposed to teaching
and learning how to help each other, and how to find the resources
necessary for growing in grace.
I'd like to talk about the difference between a passive, inner
welcome for strangers, and that little extra that breaks over
natural shyness and actually smiles and says hello!! Do you know
that actually hundreds of visitors go through here each year?
I'd like to talk about my concern for qualified, caring altar
workers. During the past year we have seen more than 200 people
kneel at these altars seeking God for spiritual help, beside those
who kneel each Sunday morning. These seekers have "COME."
And we all "care," but how many of us care enough to spend a few
minutes praying with those we know, or for those we don't know? And
all these not because I want to find fault with you; but because I see
this natural shyness in myself. We're doing "pretty well," but there
is room for improvement.
C. But the vision I see of the Church is that it is not only a "COME"
place, a place where we go IN; the church is a "GO" place.
THE CHURCH AS A LAUNCHING PAD "By ME ye shall go OUT!"
The church Jesus would have us visualize and strive for is not
complete unless and until we leave the sanctuary, and use the Door
which is our Savior to go IN and OUT!
A. We can go OUT in sending missionaries and money to the wide world:
the giving is NOT unimportant! The level of our giving is indicative
of seriousness of mission.
Money is "condensed life." It is NOT insignificant.
Far away, and in cities at home the 'people called Nazarenes' are
still sending-- and we are a vital part of that going out.
B. We can also go OUT in challenging the BEST of our young people to
lives of under-shepherding. I used to say "full-time Christian
service." But is there any other kind? And besides, one hope of the
future of the Church of Jesus Christ is in dedicated "tent-makers" who
have a definite call to see the church of Jesus Christ GO OUT into the
highways and the inner cities and the Saudi Arabias where ordained
clergy are not welcome.
But still, there is a need for some of our very best young people to
hear and answer God's call for the necessary training to be full-time
ministers, missionaries, college professors, and church workers.
C. But perhaps the absolutely most vital way the church must learn to
go OUT is by every one of our members taking Jesus "out" with them
wherever they go . . . in witness, yes! But it doesn't have to be
(always) dramatic and for a "decision." That should be in mind,
perhaps, all the time.
But more clearly, positively in mind can be: BY ME YE SHALL GO OUT!--
taking Jesus with us to care about others and be part of the world's
healing instead of its wounding.
Conclusion:
The way we must move toward God's will for us, and for our church is
by consciously using 'the Door'! The abundant LIFE Jesus speaks of
requires all our ransomed powers. Jesus also said, in this same
Gospel, that He IS the light, and the bread, and the victory over
death, and the way, and the truth, and the life, and the true
Vine. But He, Himself, is the DOOR through which those who want to
know all these other facets of what God is to us must enter. He is the
Good Shepherd that will help us enter in.
A door is the exclusive way into life. Jesus makes it plain we cannot
enter any other way except through Him. A door means an exit as well
as an entering. We cannot go in and out with Jesus and be relying on
our own wisdom or influence or knowledge or goodness.
And somehow, in this all there must be the consciousness of an higher
purpose and loyalty. Our ultimate goal goes beyond the Wollaston
Church of the Nazarene, and beyond our own personal growth and
development.
I believe there can be a holy rest and in one sense even a holy
indifference as to the visible result of our labors. For the ultimate
success and score-keeping is beyond the measure of man's mind.
Our first consideration must be to be people of integrity before
God. To seek to be open with Him, obedient to Him, available to Him,
IN OUR COMING IN FOR ATTENTION AND FOOD AND CARE, and IN OUR GOING
FORTH TO TAKE HIS CARE AND CONCERN AND LOVE TO OTHERS wherever we
range in our daily assignments.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. It is His Church. He is the Door. He is
open to us today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.17 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri May 02 1997 15:20 | 202 |
|
Romans 8:1 "Those who are in Christ Jesus"
JOYS OF BELONGING
Introduction:
[ Just ten days ago a new little baby boy made his first
appearance on Planet Earth: my latest grandson, Russell IV. Along with
his birth came FULL ACCEPTANCE into our family: A NAME, AN ESTABLISHED
RELATIONSHIP WITH ALL OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS, and ALL THE SUPPORT AND
GOOD WILL YOU CAN IMAGINE. [YOU know what I mean, exactly, because it
has happened in your family, too.]
Last Monday I called Russell III, the proud father, just to see
how the new boy was doing. I said, jokingly, "Has he said 'Ma- ma' or
'Da-da' yet?"
Russell said, "Don't be silly." Then he added, "I have been
carrying him around the house, saying, 'That is a refrigerator' and
'That is the microwave' and 'That is the telephone.'"
We certainly enjoy the baby just as he is. But WE LOOK FORWARD
TO WATCHING HIM LEARN AND GROW AND FINALLY ENTER INTO THE
CONVERSATIONS OF THE ENTIRE FAMILY.]
Romans 8 is written in celebration of those who have been BORN
into God's family and are alive in Christ.
AND ROMANS 8 IS ABOUT ENJOYING THE PRIVILEGES OF BELONGING IN
THIS GREAT FAMILY. Romans 8 is a chapter filled with the practical
contact of the Holy Spirit with believers. Depending on your version
or translation, there are between 15 and 19 references in this one
chapter, references to the Holy Spirit as He works His sanctifying
grace in our lives. Romans 8 is a syllabus on sanctification.
I. SANCTIFICATION IS "THE DISCOVERY" OF THE CHURCH IN THE 90'S
A. "Sanctification" is "old stuff" to us Nazarenes. But
believe me, sanctification is being re-discovered throughout the
entire Church of Jesus Christ. There is a proliferation of books on
holiness, written by everyone from Billy Graham to British Anglicans
to Roman Catholics.
Perhaps we Nazarenes have been "sanctification-ed" to death, with
everyone explaining until no one understands. Maybe sometimes we have
talked about sanctification, and have sometimes confused our talking
with seeking and finding and enjoying.
Still, sanctification and holiness of heart and life are big with
God our Father. The entire Christian community is vitally interested.
Even veteran Nazarenes are full of questions. I believe that I am
aware of some of the questions that growing Christians ask:
"Is holiness as we preach it relevant to everyday life?"
"Do we sometimes make 'sanctification' to mean just a crisis
experience and so limit the full scriptural expression of the
word?"
"Do sanctified people ever sin? Can they?"
"Do we push 'experiences' instead of "relationships'?"
"Aren't all Christians 'sanctified'?"
"Do some Christians have the Spirit 'with' them and others 'in'
them?"
... and on and on!
B. I propose to begin a deliberate walk through this rich
eighth chapter in Romans, looking for old and for new insights into
sanctification. I promise not to depend on cliches and worn
shibboleth.
It is always a dangerous thing to tackle great passages of
scripture. I ask you to help me; let's do it together! I don't ask
you to 'set aside' your present understanding of what it means to be
sanctified. I do ask that we all seek to be open to the riches and
glory and even power that come when we give ourselves to meditation on
God's Word.
C. "Sanctification" doesn't belong to us, or to any other human
organization. The beauty and truth of holiness are there for all who
are "in Christ Jesus." And "sanctification" certainly is NOT some new
fad-- it is in the doctrinal statement of every orthodox church,
including the Roman Catholic.
Some terms may sound new, at least to our ears, such as
"spiritual formation;" but the verity of sanctification is as old as
God's dealings with humankind. No, we do not have a corner on
sanctification, and I am not sure that we have taught our "cardinal
doctrine" very well.
D. Romans 8 begins "in Christ Jesus." This is salvation. To "be
saved" means that we have life in God through Jesus Christ.
To be "in Christ" means that we have the full acceptance and the
name and the established relationship that comes instantly upon our
coming into God's family. [Just like Russell IV, my grandson!] We're
IN! This full acceptance can be termed justification. It is what God
has done FOR us. It has to do with standing. We're IN!
But also, just like Baby Russell, we have to be learning and
growing and experiencing this LIFE that is ours. There will be
significant milestones along the way. This growing Christ-likeness,
both gradual and crucial, can be termed sanctification. It is real
change, in our character, in our state. We're ON THE WAY WITH JESUS!
And that growing and experiencing is what I want to look at here in
Romans 8 these next several weeks.
E. Please, as we go through Romans 8 together, let's not make
this just a "head trip" or a just a series of "lessons." These words
are scripture! Let's take them for our very own! Let's ask God to
make them live in us! Romans 8 should be the way all Christians live.
It is the NORM! It certainly is NOT the way that the average
Christian lives.
II. FACT ONE: ALL WHO ARE SAVED ARE 'IN CHRIST JESUS'
A. To be saved is to be "included in!" [It is an amazing and
wonderful discovery to new Christians: the "inclusive aspect of saving
faith." God accepts us as we are! True, God hates sin, and never
simply excuses it or ignores it. But we can be sure that God loves His
children! His purpose and intent is to help them! Not to exclude, but
to preserve and keep them!]
B. Wonderful things are concurrent and simultaneous with being
"in Christ." The list of joys and privileges is long. In this
chapter we get a perception of the great joy and privilege those who
are "in Christ" know. To be "in Christ" means:
1. (verse 9) THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST LIVES WITHIN. "If anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he/she does not belong to Him." ONCE
WE ACCEPT THE REALITY OF A GOD WHO IS, AND WHO IS GOOD, AND WHO
SPEAKS-- AND ONCE WE CHOOSE TO PUT OURSELVES UNDER HIS AUTHORITY,
EVERYTHING CHANGES! [PERSON TO PERSON REALITY!]
2. (verse 14) THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST LEADS. More about this
leading later, but in short, (verse 28) there is not a situation where
God excludes Himself from us, from our lives!
3. (verse 15) THE SPIRIT MAKES US "AT HOME." Adoption, trust,
belonging.
4. (verse 17) THE SPIRIT PERMITS US TO ENTER INTO THE
SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. (ALL humankind knows pain; Christians are not
excluded. But Christ's sufferings are redemptive. If we do not shrink
back from the Cross, we may have fellowship with the Christ.) We are
not facing the facts if we do not realize the fact of spiritual
warfare.
C. This is not an exhaustive list of the "joys and privileges"
of course. But it gives an idea of the richness of life into which we
are born as God's children.
[But let's continue to look at basic truth:]
III. ALL OF SALVATION, STANDING AND STATE, IS BY THE GIFT OF FAITH
(Romans 10:9,10) We can be sure that we are "in Christ Jesus" and know
that we are eligible for all the joys of Romans 8. How?:
A. The initiative is from God. God seeks us. God speaks to
us. God enables us to hear and to believe. [Mystery!]
1. There must be a gift of faith, a touch from God, a
conviction that God has spoken in His Son, Jesus Christ.
2. The old, old story (old for many of us) suddenly becomes very
personal! God speaks to YOU! (ME!) Or, it may be the very first time
the message is heard (as my own father- saved in the first gospel
meeting he attended, at age 21.) But we KNOW God wants us to let HIM
into OUR lives!
B. When God speaks, we can respond. We do not need to fully
understand or comprehend in order to have a real, genuine,
relationship with God. We are not saved when we pass a certain
comprehensive test. We are saved when God speaks and we hear Him, and
we say, "Present!"
C. Are YOU willing to let God be God in YOUR life? We must
combine the gift of faith with a deliberate response of our will. Our
will can not, and does not save us. But our will may open the door
for the Sovereign God to enter! HE can save us! And He WILL enter!
Have YOU permitted Him entrance into YOUR life? Can you hear Him
knocking just now?
Conclusion: Invitation. [Revelation 3:20] Prayer.
Hymn EH#33 Behold the Throne of Grace
(repeat verse 2 for invitation)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.18 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri May 02 1997 15:20 | 182 |
|
February 3, 1991
THE SHEPHERD'S TABLE
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He
makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me
beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with
me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine
enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup
runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23
Introduction
This beautiful Psalm is one of God's sweetest gifts to all
generations. The pure poetry, along with the personal trust in God it
exudes, has spoken in countless circumstances and situations,
powerfully time and time again. It is at one and the same time a
statement of faith and a prayer. We will never exhaust its supply of
strength.
Very often when I am thinking about the sacrament of communion,
thinking of Christ and His provision of salvation, thinking of the
Last Supper and the words Jesus spoke then:
"This is my body, broken for you; this is my blood;" I think of
the phrase in the Shepherd Psalm:
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies.
Somehow I know it "connects." Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is the
One who calls us to His table.
I. GOD'S TABLE IS ABOUT FOOD
Jesus took the common things of life and living and elevated
them to the status of sacrament. When purity and love are present
then all of life is holy. But in a special way Jesus made food and
eating part of His most sacred command:
A. Food is basic stuff. It is connected with life. That isn't
too profound. But somehow just about all cultures and civilizations
have understood that bread has to do with the mystery of Life; with
the God or "gods" that connect with what we cannot understand of
beginnings and destinations.
B. Idols, man-made "gods" demand to be fed. Again and again in
the scriptures idols are described. They have to be carried. They are
a burden.
C. But the living God feeds his children. He carries them. We
who have been brought up on the truth of the Christian story don't
realize the stark contrast of many of the world religions.
D. God does have demands regarding food. JHWH demanded
"shewbread" on the table, which the priests ate. Our God demands our
first fruits, our tithes. But do our tithes "support Almighty God?"
God provided manna. Jesus broke loaves and fishes and fed multitudes.
Again, Jesus provided breakfast along the seashore for the
disciples. No, we don't feed God-- we simply put Him absolutely
"first" and He provides what we need to be/become what He wants us to
be.
II. THIS TABLE IS ALSO ABOUT ENEMIES
A. "Enemies" is basic stuff, too. Who has "enemies" in this
sophisticated time? Certainly not Christians! We are past the
confrontational stages of life and living!
Enemies are people you hate! People who hate YOU! Christians
don't hate! "Love your enemies!"
The Psalms seem so simple: David hated God's enemies; we are so
much more sophisticated!
A. We don't like the "war-like" examples of the Bible
we don't have any enemies!
WHAT? WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE IDEA OF "ENEMIES?"
B. When we seek to do God's will we are opposed.
1. There are forces seeking to cause your defeat. You had
better be alert!
2. There are battles we must fight. Every Christian group or
individual has some sort of agenda, even if it is just
saving the seals. Some of the most militant of people are
people who advocate peace.
C. Christians usually fall into one of two categories: either
ACTIVIST, or CONVERSIONIST.
1. Activists create pressure. They seek to enact law. They
form a moral majority or a green peace. They protest.
2. Conversionists seek to evangelize. Nothing wrong with
that-- except that all too often this means "Join MY group
the way WE say and then circle the wagons and wait for the
cavalry." I do not deny that I believe that people need
to be born again, and that unless a person is saved he or
she is lost.
But there is a third way. Stanley Hauerwas suggests that
this "third way" is not in any way a blending of the other
two, but a radically different approach to Christian
reality!
3. This third way says: EAT IN FRONT OF YOUR ENEMIES! Don't
just try to block them in legislature, or persuade them to
become a member of your church-- but show them your
Shepherd!
Instead of an ACTIVIST APPROACH or a CONVERSIONIST APPROACH, this
is A CONFESSIONAL APPROACH to Christian living. . . . saying: "Jesus
Christ is MY Shepherd! He is MY Lord and MY Master. I will seek to do
everything I do in a way to please Him and reveal Him to the world!
III. THE LORD'S TABLE IS ABOUT SANCTUARY
A. This Psalm is highly personal. That is hardly news. We all
know it by heart, and yet somehow it has the power to make each one of
us feel "special" before God. THAT is deeply satisfying. There are a
lot of Christians. Millions, even. But you can relate to God
one-on-One!
B. Never forget, though, that though it is personal, the star
of the Psalm, the focus of the confidence, the object of trust is the
Shepherd! "The LORD is my shepherd!" That is confessional. And it
is the Lord that
maketh and
leadeth and
restoreth and
leadeth (again, for His name's sake) and
Thou art with me
Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me and
THOU preparest and
THOU anointest!
C. It is NOT a table for two! Yes, it IS personal! But there
is fellowship around the Shepherd's table. Actually the fellowship is
not the primary thing-- even though sometimes it becomes the
focus. But the fellowship is incidental to the MEAL.
Conclusion:
I would challenge you this morning to be a confessional
Christian!
To "eat in front of your enemies" does not mean you will DO LESS
than those who call themselves "activist."
To be "confessional" does not mean that you will TALK LESS ABOUT
JESUS than the "conversionists." Probably you will both do and say
more than ever before for your Master.
But my challenge to you is that as we eat together this morning
you and I will be telling the Shepherd, the Master, our Lord Jesus
Christ, that He can make us, He can lead us, He can restore us, He can
"rod and staff us" with whatever discipline He sees fit!
Prayer: Meet with us at Your table this morning, O Lord.
(Crimond)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.19 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri May 02 1997 15:20 | 198 |
|
April 25, 1993
ETERNAL LAMB OF GOD
EVER PRESENT
Luke 24: 13 - 35
I Peter 1:17 - 23
Isaiah 43: 1 - 12
Introduction
Our Scripture lessons for today have one encouraging theme:
GOD IS NEAR TO THOSE WHO SEEK HIM
AND WHO WANT
TO LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE
AND TO DO HIS WILL.
The Lesson from Luke 24 brings us back to the beautiful story of
the Emmaus Road. The children have read it again for us: As the
disciples walked along, talking about the events of the day in the
light of a faith that had been almost lost, Jesus was there, He went
with them, they believed and they shared.
The text from I Peter says it in a profound, theological
framework:
For He (the Lamb of God) was foreknown before the
foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last
times for the sake of you who through Him are believers
in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him
glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."
The vision of Isaiah gives us the word as from the very mouth of
God Himself. And powerful, comforting, but challenging words they
are!
I. GOD SAYS WHAT HE IS TO HIS PEOPLE
They have not been all they should be. In fact they have
been in captivity because of their earlier rebellion, and the
rebellion of their parents. But God still loves them. He has heard
their hearts cry. And so God says these things:
A. I HAVE FORMED YOU. I am Your Creator. I know what really
makes you tick!
If we are self-made people, then God's words do not apply.
If our church is of our own efforts; if we in fact are not a
living stone, built into the living structure of the One True Church
that Jesus is building, then these words do not apply.
We are not "the only church." But by God's grace we are a part
of God's church! We have life, we have an open door. We are God's
because He has planted us here!
B. I HAVE REDEEMED YOU. I have removed your sins; I have paid the
price for you. I am the Suffering Servant as well as the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father. You do not have to continue in your unhappy
condition.
If we have not sinned, we have never been redeemed.
If we are righteous in our own goodness, these words are
meaningless.
But by the grace of God we have been washed in the blood of the
everlasting sacrifice and been cleansed of our iniquity, and clothed
in Christ's own righteousness. We have been redeemed.
C. I HAVE NAMED YOU. I have called you by name. Not only do I know
your name-- the details of your life-- but I have given you a new
name. [Remember Jacob and the wrestling scene at Jabbok, and how in
the course of the night the angel (Theophany) said, "What is your
name?" "Jacob!" "No! Your name is Israel!"
D. YOU ARE MINE! God-owned! That sounds so limiting, so confining
to the un-believing mind, I suppose. But to my mind it is the most
satisfying thing I can think of, to have the great God of heaven and
earth unashamed to call ME His own!
I have seen children who were ashamed of their parents because
they were out of style. I have seen parents ashamed of their
children-- and sometimes I may have wanted to pretend my children
belonged to someone else (not really!!) But to have God say "You
belong to me!" gives me great security. I would think twice before
messing around with Almighty God's property!
II. GOD SAYS WHAT HIS PEOPLE ARE TO HIM
A. A covenant is not "one-way;" it is in some way "reciprocal"
God has said, "I AM your God!" And in that statement are all
the wonderful things God has done for us. But God is also saying,
"You are mine!" The covenant is not just one sided, with nothing for
us to be and do. God makes it plain; His statement is simple, it is
repeated, it is clear:
YOU ARE MY WITNESSES!
"These are to be the conditions of our covenant relationship: I
AM YOUR GOD! YOU ARE MY WITNESSES!"
B. Witnessing involves: Talking about God! But this involves more
than "speculation!" Everyone, it seems is an "expert" on God; God
wouldn't do this; God isn't like that--
What is involved in our covenant? We are to be witnesses to
what? To the fact that I AM God! And that the I AM God is the center
of our lives! This acknowledgment of God in every facet of our lives
sums up our duties as God's people, His servants, His witnesses.
C. To WHOM do we talk about God?
1. We talk about God to God Himself! We tell GOD what He is to
us! That is WORSHIP!
2. We talk about God to our selves! (Psalm 103) We tell
ourselves what God IS to us: that is HUMILITY!
3. We talk about God to each other! We tell each other what God
is: that is FELLOWSHIP IN WORSHIP! (The importance of what we used to
call "testimony time."
4. We tell everyone who will listen who God is TO US! We tell
everyone who will listen who God is and that becomes EVANGELISM.
What do we tell them? (1) What we know for certain! (2) "God
is GOOD!" And God has said He inhabits such God-talk! If God is in
our God-talk He says (in this Isaiah passage:)
"I will bring
your family
together
from the north
and the south
and from the east
and from the west."
CONCLUSION
A resum=E9 of the year is in your hands. God has helped us this
year. Pastor Nielson has worked with ad hoc committees this year who
have helped develop a ministry that is solid for our people from birth
through teens; Mike Schutz has developed the College Sunday School
class and has worked with Chaplain Mark Sanford in that area; I have
mentioned some exciting things in the younger adults ministries in my
report. It remains for us this year to continue to seek to develop
opportunities for adult ministry and growth.
I asked church leaders, staff and board members and others, to
share their best dreams for our church in a sentence or two. What I
received could be summed up, for the most part, in a desire that every
individual who worships here might be folded into a caring, sharing
group-- for prayer, Bible study, encouragement; and that every
individual who worships here might be encouraged to discover, develop,
and use gifts of the Spirit in service to God.
Last year ... "no vision"
Haddon W. Robinson, distinguished professor of preaching at
Gordon Divinity quotes the 19th century poet/essayist John Ruskin as
saying:
The greatest thing a human ever does in the world
is to see something and tell others what he saw in a
plain way. Hundreds can talk for one who can think, but
thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly
and tell others is poetry, prophecy, and religion all
in one."
If that is anywhere near true, then the greatest thing we can do
as individuals, and more importantly for this message today,
the greatest thing
we can possibly do
as a church
is to learn to see God
and to talk about Him
in a plain way
to each other in encouragement,
and to anyone who will listen
in the sacrifice of praise,
which really is the whole end and purpose of our being as a church--
and encompasses all the tasks of worship, evangelism, education,
service and fellowship as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.20 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri May 02 1997 15:21 | 172 |
|
January 17, 1988(pm)
LIGHT ON CHRIST'S COMING AGAIN
Thessalonians 2:15-17
Introduction:
When you mention the "Second Coming," or talk about the history of our
planet coming to an end by the direct intervention of God's divine
power, you classify yourself with the oddballs and strange
people. [Only scientists and philosophers talk seriously about
doomsday; the rest of us don't want to hear about it.]
The one tenet of Christian faith that is certain to be ridiculed by
non-believers--a tenet that is very sorely neglected by most
Christians--is the clear teaching that Jesus Christ is coming back to
earth in the same manner that He went away. But Christ's return is as
sure and certain as the fact that He came the first time. [The wonder
of Christ's FIRST coming--God invading earth--"goes right by" most
Christians, let alone the unbelievers.]
One reason 2 Thessalonians was written was to straighten believers out
on this matter of Christ's return. Paul was telling them: "when it
comes, you'll know it! But you had better be prepared!"
If we are to preach the whole counsel of God's Word we need to deal
with what it says about Christ's coming to earth again. So many wild
things have been said about Christ's Second Coming that many ministers
may be like I am: hesitant to be classed as any kind of prophecy
specialist."
I. WHAT IS GOD'S WORD ON "END TIMES?"
A. There are several popularly preached scenarios:
(1) Some center around the timing of Christ's coming in regard to
the time of "tribulation." (pre-trib/ post-trib/ mid-trib
theories) [Try to tell Christians just NOW who are suffering
for Jesus--in Gulag . . . in Mozambique . . . or who suffered
in other times in history for their witness--that "tribulation"
is something we "don't have to worry about!"]
(2) A few have used the seven churches of Revelation as "church
stages"--but almost always these end up by saying, "We are in
the Laodocian age..." We have been stuck there for centuries!
(3) Many have elaborate scriptural charts and proofs worked out:
And no doubt there are charts that are 99% accurate. But still
. . . there are
B. SCRIPTURAL CERTAINTIES:
(1) Jesus will return in a personal, physical way (Acts 1:11:"As
you have seen Him go into heaven.")
(2) His coming will be surprising (Matthew 24:44: "In such an hour
as you think NOT the Son of man cometh.")
(3) His coming will not be private or a secret: In Mark 14:62 the
high priest asked Jesus point blank: "Are You the Son of the
Blessed?" And Jesus said, plainly: "I AM; and you will the Son
of God coming in clouds of great glory!"
(4) So in summary, what we can say about the Second Coming with the
most certainty is that it is imminent--it has both qualities of
certainty and uncertainty
C. It is to be a time of vindication/retribution/judgment.
VINDICATION: That is DOES pay to serve Jesus! That God IS both GOOD
and LOVING and ALL-POWERFUL!
RETRIBUTION: One of the things we don't understand about some of
the Psalms are the "imprecation prayers" or "cursing" of God's
enemies. We don't fully understand that, and certainly we should
never appropriate that cursing for personal or selfish reasons.
But clearly,this will take place when Jesus returns again
(2 Thes 1:8,9: "retribution to those who do not know God and to
those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ"-"These
will pay the penalty of ETERNAL DESTRUCTION, away from the presence
of the Lord and the glory of His power."
JUDGMENT: Matthew 25:3-- "All the nations will be gathered before
Him, and He will separate them one from another . . .
D. It has not taken place as yet:
II. HOW MAY WE BE READY FOR CHRIST'S COMING?
A. We can never "get ready" as He comes; we have to be ready. And
this cannot be at some artificially high level of emotional tension.
It has to be something we can live day in and day out.
B. Should we study prophecy and become "experts" in this field? We
should study, and should increase our expectancy and desire; but I
doubt if we shall ever be true "experts" in the matter.
C. But we may be certain we will not be the subject of Christ's
vengeance or retribution if we care for two matters:
(1) WE MUST BE CERTAIN THAT WE KNOW GOD. (1:8) What does in mean
'to know God'?? Certainly NO ONE knows Him in any
comprehensive way. And knowing God is not a matter of
'searching Him out' by superior intelligence or privileged
gifts and status. Knowing God must come in response to
revelation: knowing God is always the result of a deliberate,
submissive response to God's approach to our innermost
self.
James says: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
. . . " Paul says: "I have counted all things as loss that I
may know Jesus . . . "
Simply put: KNOWING GOD MEANS BEING SAVED! LETTING JESUS COME
INTO YOUR HEART! RESPONDING TO HIS REQUEST TO 'COME IN!'
(Revelation 3:20)
(2) WE MUST BE CERTAIN THAT WE ARE OBEYING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS
CHRIST. (also 1:8) Perhaps these are two sides of the same
coin-- knowing God and obeying the Gospel.
But if we know God, we will be evidencing life, and living for
Him. We will be concerned about THE GREAT COMMISSION! We will
try to live THE GREAT COMMANDMENT!
We will experience THE GREAT PROMISE!
Conclusion:
Revelation 22:10-21 And he(the angel) said to me, "Do not seal up the
words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. "Let the
one who does wrong, still do wrong; and let the one who is filthy,
still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice
righteousness; and let the one who is holy, still keep himself holy."
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to
every man according to what he has done. "I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right
to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the
murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices
lying.
"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the
churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning
star."
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears
say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who
wishes take the water of life without cost. . . . . . .
He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly."
Amen. COME, LORD JESUS!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
#24(Exalt Him) I Cannot Tell
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 31.21 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri May 02 1997 15:21 | 167 |
|
April 27, 1997
John 15:8
Acts 8:26-40
THE PRAYER GOD LOVES TO ANSWER
It is a coincidence, I suppose, that on Annual Meeting Sunday
the Gospel lesson ends with a life verse of mine. For years John 15:8
has been a real challenge to me, literally almost daily in my private
time with God. I know it sounds silly to always say that 15:8 comes
right after 15:7, but 15:7 is a great, great promise of God answering
prayer that people who know anything about the Bible love to quote.
"Ask whatever you will!" they say, as if that means we can bring any
kind of wish list to God. But that promise is a focused promise: IF
you abide in me-- and IF my words abide in you-- and THIS IS HOW MY
FATHER WILL BE GLORIFIED---IF you bear much fruit! John 15:8
challenges us to will God's will. John 15:8 challenges us to dare to
bear MUCH fruit to the glory of God!
One important emphasis of this entire passage is that every
branch that is connected to the true vine will bear fruit. Not to bear
fruit is to prove there is no vital connection to the vine. Jesus
says plainly (5) "apart from me you can do nothing."
What does it mean to "bear much fruit?" I am glad that the
final answer to that is not yours or mine to say. But i really do
believe that if I abide in Christ, and Christ's words abide in me--
this is one prayer that Christ is really serious about answering!
This is the pray God loves to answer. we all can bear fruit-- and we
don't have to just settle for being nominal, leaves-only Christians!
One example of "much fruit" is this story of Philip, the deacon, who
in the lesson we just heard read witnessed Christ to the Ethiopian
eunuch and baptized him on the spot and thus was God's instrument to
take the Gospel to Africa for the first time. But Philip's story is
spread through the Book of Acts for us to see:
First, to Philip (in Acts 6) "bearing much fruit" meant serving tables
to free up the apostles. Philip even had the same name as Philip the
apostle, who seemed to be in the 'inner circle.' But he was willing
to serve on the board of deacons and wait on tables if that meant
Peter and James and the others could spend more time filling out their
assignments. Acts 6:7 says, "Then (after the deacons freed up the
apostles) the word of God spread, and the number of disciples
multiplied greatly..."
But then the assignment changed. Stephen, one of the board members,
was killed. The persecution began in earnest, and the disciples were
scattered, and Philip found himself in a city of Samaria--
Then, second, to Philip (in early Acts 8) "bearing much fruit" meant
becoming a witness to revival. An entire city was stirred. People
came in crowds. The "fruit" was visible and abundant. There was
great joy in that city. And so what happened? The "preachers" came
and took over-- Peter and John came down to preach about the need for
being filled with the Holy Spirit. Philip wasn't the star any more.
And that is where this morning's lesson begins-- the Holy Spirit said
to this very fruitful branch of the true vine-- "Go down into the
desert, to the road that leads toward Egypt and beyond."
So Philip found still another, a third definition of "bearing much
fruit."
(In our lesson, Acts 8) He was a one-on-one witness. In the
wonderful timing of God it was "just an amazing coincidence" that as
Philip, obedient Philip, arrived a small cloud of dust was moving
southward following a wealthy man's chariot. The Holy Spirit said to
Philip, "Go over and do what you are supposed to do!" And that day
Philip led one man to Jesus. One man.
"Much fruit!" Revival in Samaria? One Ethiopian? What is "much
fruit?" How do you imagine the Optic Church and all the Christians in
Ethiopia got their spark of light? So-- that is the end of
Philip...right? Well, not exactly. Years pass, and toward the end of
Paul's ministry as he is returning to Jerusalem for the last time
before being arrested and sent to Rome, the disciples stop in the
beautiful marble city of Caesarea, and stay for a while in the home
of-- old Philip, the evangelist, one of the original seven deacons
(see Acts 21:8.)
Now I'll admit I don't have a lot of facts about the rest of the life
of this man Philip, but I can say with some assurance that
Philip (finally in Acts 21) could define "bearing much fruit" as
seeing his own family in the faith. The Bible tells us that Philip had
four wonderful grown daughters who all knew and loved the Lord, and
who knew how to share their faith. To this father and grandfather
mind, this is the greatest kind of bearing fruit to God that can be!
There we have it, the example of Philip, the consecrated lay person:
A servant and supporter of the front-line workers
A key part of mass evangelism, stepping into the place of
need, but also willing to step aside when the apostles came down from
Jerusalem-- step aside with beautiful grace
A person willing to obey the Spirit even when it meant a
desert assignment.
But also a gift of using the scripture-- being able to begin with an
opportunity and share the love of the crucified, risen, personal
Savior.
A faithful family person-- give his wife credit, too, of she
in fact was there as the girls grew older; no doubt she was-- we don't
know the details.
Can we translate the challenge of John 15:8 into a church's challenge
to be a living part of the True Vine and not settle for just bearing
fruit, but asking that we bear MUCH fruit?
We will need the vision for serving, for caring. We need the glue of
loyalty and the oil of fun and fellowship. We can't do Christ's work
unless we do it with joy along the way!
We will pray to see the times of revival, with numbers seeking and
finding God. There will be these times-- and like the Book of Acts, it
is impossible to see what comes before or after. the revival in
Samaria was the result of tragedy in Jerusalem, or so it would appear
to us. But we pray that many will find Christ in the public services.
We ask God for the vision to learn better how to obey God one-on-one;
along the desert roads, the Spirit will arrange for Philip to meet the
Ethiopian.
Race, culture, customs-- none of these can be a barrier when God
gives the guidance.
Perhaps dearest to my pastor-heart
We ask God for vision to equip our families to grow in the love of God
until, like Philip's four daughters, they will go past us, out-do us
in serving the Lord! What will it profit us to gain the whole city of
Quincy if we lose our own sons and daughters? But God helping us, we
will not!
I cannot think of a better challenge for Annual Meeting Day
than this passage from John 15. What is the "state of our church?"
Maybe I should have been speaking about the $100,000+ we have given in
assigned budgets for others, or I should have been raising the
challenge again for Sam and Winna Chung and the Asian ministry--
perhaps I should have been publicly thanking God and so many of you
who minister in Sunday School and small groups and compassionate
ministry and so many, many other good things this church does because
we belong to the True Vine. Instead I ask you to join with me in
believing with all our hearts the promise of John 15:7-- that IF we
abide, and IF God's truth is in us-- we can ask whatever we will-- and
then daring to pray John 15:8:
WHATEVER IT COSTS, O LORD, MAKE US BEAR MUCH FRUIT TO YOUR
GLORY! That is the prayer God loves to answer! And He will do it!
Hymn 36 To God Be the Glory
or 702 Christ for the World We Sing
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|